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• Complete a minimum of a bachelor’s degree at a US  regionally accredited university or college 
• Complete course work accredited  or approved by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and  Dietetics (ACEND) of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics to receive a verification statement from the coursework.
• Apply to and complete an ACEND-accredited supervised practice program, such as the Golden Gate Dietetic Internship (GGDI) program. 
• Pass a national examination administered by the  Commission on Dietetic Registration (CDR). The GGDI Program trains  Interns to take and pass the Registered Dietitian credentialing  examination to achieve the RD credential. 
• California does not require licensure. Program graduates may practice in another state outside of California that DOES require licensure.  For more information about those states, please visit https://www.cdrnet.org/state-licensure-agency-list
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• GGDI is a full-time program. If you need to work, please let us know. However, graduates have reported less potential income lost because of the brevity of  time with GGDI versus other dietetic internship programs. 
• The program year was calculated at 40 hours per week for 25 weeks (plus break weeks, if applicable)/1000 hours/ ~6-7 MONTHS (please scroll down for calendar) of supervised practice. Hence, to get through the program efficiently and expediently, working on the side is not always an option.       Please NOTE: There are no Winter Holiday Breaks during the 2023 Program Year for those that matched to complete  by December 2023 making for a shorter program year.
• Interns are required to get the required vaccinations for all diseases, conditions (and COVID) because they are required by GGDI supervised practice facilities/rotation sites of interns.
• Attendance is required of Interns at the Orientation for Supervised Practice on the Saturday after Labor Day AND at all Intern group meetings. Orientations in 2023 for the special matched 2023 cohort that will complete by December 2023 to be determined later, or on individualized case-by-case basis. 
• There may be specific needs of facilities, preceptors and/or schedules for Interns on weekends, evenings and/or holidays.
• Intern professionalism, maturity, integrity,  flexibility and resilience are key to successful completion of this invaluable experience in ALL dietetic internship programs—while remembering a dietetic internship program is a college-graduate program and expectations of all stakeholders are that interns conducts themselves as graduates (and not undergraduates)
• INTERNS ARE THE FUTURE OF OUR PROFESSION AND A PART OF THE BRIDGE TO THE FUTURE OF DIETETICS!

The Program is a general program preparing graduates to be employed in ANY area of dietetics and where graduates are also employed. As required, it has a Program Concentration of a Nutrition Leadership Project also in ANY area of dietetics—about 5-6 weeks in length and IS UNIQUE to GGDI. It can be in a specialty area the intern would like more focus, depending on preceptor availability etc. This rotation provides Interns the opportunity to practice leading and managing a nutrition project they ELECT, utilizing the 5 Phases of Project Management and Instructional Systems Design (ADDIE). (A project has a finite end where as a future program does not have an end point.) This project is much like a capstone in a MS-degree level program, but is shorter in duration. Project  Management competence is also included in ACEND’s future, new model for education in nutrition and dietetics! Lastly, one may pair up with another for the project provided the rotation schedule allows such. 

Intern Group Meetings, (some programs call them classes), were at a relatively central  location for the Program (usually Zoom or in  Santa Rosa or Corte Madera, CA  ). Although each  Intern may reside near their geographical rotations, they are required   attend these meetings. These meetings are for teaching and  learning (didactics) and are integral to the GGDI Program and  supervised practice. The meetings are opportunities for interns to lead and manage by leading and facilitating meetings. As much as possible, the program is intern-focused because these adults are now college graduates and will be treated as such. 

NOTE: During extenuating events, such as with  COVID-19 that prohibit larger group gatherings, these meetings took place via ZOOM, online discussions, and electronic presentations asynchronously. Attendance, contribution and collaboration of these replacement activities remain Program completion requirements. At each meeting, an intern still leads the meeting—opportunities to practice skills required now and in the the future!