Assessment of student selection practices and beliefs in dietetic internship programs

With declining college enrollment, the health professions, including dietetics, are recognizing a need to assess and monitor student selection more closely. In this survey of 102 dietetic internship programs, program directors and a sample of their faculty members were asked to describe their current selection practices and to identify the beliefs they hold about the information obtained from various components of their procedures. Differences in beliefs between program directors and other faculty members were compared by t-test analysis. The five major categories of internship selection procedures are presented with information items faculty members believe are derived from each category, and the results are compared with those of previous surveys of dietetic selection practices. Major findings are that the intern selection process has changed significantly since 1978, with greater emphasis on work experience and extracurricular activities; the number of applicants per position has doubled despite a doubling of dietetic internship programs; and program directors and faculty members agree on the major selection practices but not on the information obtained from a given category. In the discussion, the findings are evaluated against a broad background of health profession education literature; implications are raised for intern selection committees and for the applicant.