Program Overview

Morrison provides leadership and benefits to ensure a quality distance education dietetic program. Students will be exposed to various experiences and collaborate with healthcare experts.  Although the students will be located in various areas of the country, the education requirements and expectations will remain equal. All students, regardless of location, will participate in the online education requirements, including completing recorded and animated presentation modules, live webinars, and case study presentations, all using technologies supported by the internship. Through an online course management system, the program director, preceptors, and students will have a centralized location to aid in the progress and evaluation of the interns.

We are a unique distance education program in that we arrange all rotation sites and preceptors for our students. This program includes the structure and guidance for supervised practice completion and online supplemental didactic training utilizing training modules and webinars. Interns are required to complete their supervised clinical practice and food management rotations in Compass/Morrison-managed facilities. Dietetic interns are considered Morrison students.  As Morrison students, they are entitled to access to the company’s intranet sites that enhance their learning as interns.

MHC DI has many rotation sites nationwide to host the student's experience. The intern will be assigned to one city/location and complete all rotations there. The work week is 40 hours per week, Monday through Friday. Graduate school interns work 32 hours per week, Monday through Thursday.

Applications for the Fall 2025 Internship will open on August 5, 2024, and the application deadline for November decisions will be October 15, 2024, and March decisions will be February 15, 2024. All Compass/Morrison Employees and Priority Partner students are encouraged to utilize the November decision timeline for early decisions and admittance to our internship Application Process. (Students enrolled in MSDI Pathway Partner programs with Auburn, Nicholls, Stony Brook, University of Arizona, and University of Tennessee Martin will automatically become eligible to participate in the MHC DI program, click here for MSDI Pathway Partners).

For Fall 2025, Morrison Healthcare DI will offer:

Internship Class: Aug 2025-March/April 2026

• Track 1: Aug 2025- March 2026:
  •  40 hours/week, Monday- Friday; Admission requirement: DPD Verification Statement with completed MS degree by July 2025.
• Track 2: Aug 2025- April 2026:
  • 32 hours/week, Monday- Thurs; Admission requirement: BS degree, DPD Verification statement, 18 hours completed toward master’s degree. 
• Track 3: Aug 2025- April 2026:
  • 32 hours/week, Monday- Thurs; Accepted into one of our MSDI Pathway Partners, with BS degree and DPD Verification Statement; Refer to MSDI Pathway Partners for matriculation information.    

Rotations 
Dietetic interns must participate in the internship orientation (Aug 25-29 in Atlanta, GA) before beginning the internship. Students must attend all days in person. Rotations will start on Sept 2, 2025. Rotations for the internship include food service management, clinical nutrition, community wellness, and specialty rotations. The internship provides all required sites for the intern in their designated locations/cities. Rotation sites may be within an 80-mile radius of the designated location/city. A minimum of 1000 hours of supervised practice is required to complete the internship.  

Program Outline

Internship Breaks: The week of Thanksgiving; Monday before Christmas and returning the Monday after New Year’s Day; and MLK Day, Memorial Day, and the 4th of July. 

Online Sessions: Online classes will be scheduled in the evenings throughout the internship. The sessions will provide online live training, presentations, and discussions.

Rotation experiences based on 32 - 40-hours/week include:

Food Management (6 -7 weeks)
Experiences to include, but not limited to:

~ Implement steps to order, purchase, and receive food according to regulatory and budgetary requirements.
~ Create and implement recipes/menus to satisfy the needs and demands of patients and café customers.
~ Assist with employee schedules, payroll, and providing training and development.
~ Participate in patient food delivery operations from meal selection to patient meal delivery
~ Evaluate workflow of systems, kitchen design, kitchen equipment, and layout
~ Researching and implementing sustainability initiatives or trends to improve food management operations.
~ Analyze quality, financial, and productivity data for use in planning.
~ Evaluate food & nutrition services to ensure that the environment for customers and associates is safe and regulatory requirements are met.

In-patient Clinical Nutrition (12 -14 weeks)
Experiences to include, but not limited to:
~ Assess and educate patients with varying medical conditions
~ Present case study and a comprehensive literature review
~ Participate in functions of leadership

Outpatient Nutrition Counseling and Community (3 weeks)
Experiences to include, but not limited to:
~ Participate in providing medical nutrition therapy to patients/clients in the outpatient setting
~ Document requirements and follow-up of care and communications in the outpatient setting
~ Participate in coding and billing of nutrition services to obtain reimbursement for services
~ Participate in providing an outpatient class or healthcare system community initiative
~ Establish, coordinate, and lead a group for a local grocery shopping tour.

Specialty Rotation (3 weeks) 
Experiences to include, but not limited to:
Opportunity to specialize in an area the student is interested in. Specialty rotations may include nutrition support, sports nutrition, pediatrics, telehealth, food insecurity, long-term care, business management, corporate leadership, wellness & sustainability, teaching kitchens, school nutrition, nutrition informatics, marketing/social media communications, and culinary patient nutrition. Please note that some of these rotations can be virtual. 

Research (32 hours)
Experiences to include, but not limited to:
~Designated research topic established by the internship
~Collection of data, with analysis of information and literature research to support the topic
~Research topic and findings presented as a poster 

Professional Development  (32 hours)
Experiences to include, but not limited to:
~Interactive workshops and webinars on self-assessment, learning and leadership styles, conflict management with interactive case scenarios, and so on
~Value of preceptorship and mentorship leadership panel
~Recruitment fair with Talent Acquisition team and interview panel, and salary negotiation skill practices

Online Training, E-based Scenario Learning, and Classes:
To help prepare the intern for upcoming supervised practice experience, online modules and/or e-based scenario learning experiences are provided as pre-work before each rotation. Online quizzes are provided throughout the clinical rotations. At the end of the clinical and food management rotations, interns complete a comprehensive examination. 

Interns will participate in scheduled online classes throughout the program. The internship director will coordinate these sessions, including live presentations on relevant topics from experienced speakers and presentations provided by interns.

See Prospective Students for detailed program admission requirements. Ready to apply? Submit the supplemental application here. 

Questions? Our Program Director is happy to answer any questions you have and can support you throughout the application process. Please send any questions to Dr. Sunitha Zechariah, Program Director at  sunithazechariah@iammorrison.com