Students are eligible upon completion of the internship/masters program to take the registration examination for dietitians developed by the Commission on Dietetic Registration. The program at SIUC emphasizes health promotion and disease prevention along with primary and/or ambulatory health care.Settings for community practice include public health departments, ambulatory care clinics, hospitals and specialized community health projects. Students complete supervised practice experiences in two sites: one hospital and one public health facility.

   
There are 10 hospitals and 10 community sites to choose from. They are located in Illinois, southeastern Missouri, western Kentucky, and southwestern Indiana. The program also provides didactic and field experiences qualifying students for a Master of Science degree in Food and Nutrition. Additionally, curriculum incorporates public health nutrition knowledge and skills criteria outlined by Association of Graduate Programs in Public Health Nutrition. The Dietetic Internship Program at Southern Illinois University Carbondale is currently granted accreditation status by the Commission on Accreditation for Dietetics Education (CADE) of The American Dietetic Association, 216 W. Jackson Blvd., Chicago, IL 60606-6995, Telephone 312/899-5400. CADE is a specialized accrediting body recognized by the United States Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

The internship portion of the program begins after students complete approximately 31 credit hours of graduate course work. Three 10-week rotations of supervised experiences occur in three areas of practice: community nutrition, foodservice management, and clinica nutrition (medical nutrition therapy). Supervised practice sites are located from a few miles to 380 miles from campus. Each student is responsible for both housing and transportation to the supervised practice sites. A student should expect to relocate at least once during the supervised practice experience. The Program Director assigns each student to his or her supervised practice sites based on the student's career goals and special interests.