Essential Student Interns NEED Hands-On Experiential Learning in a Pandemic

• The NEED is to fund 11 software licenses for student alternative professional work experience.
• The NEED is to fund 11 licenses for examination preparatory software.

WHY WE NEED YOUR HELP:

Our program needs additional funding to support the individual project needs and experiential simulation learning platforms.  

For more information, please read the full justification below:

ABOUT OUR DIETETIC INTERNSHIP PROGRAM:

Within a Severe Health Professional Shortage, the pandemic adds new layers. Dietitians are designated as Essential Workers, yet the clinical placement guidelines for supervised practice remain a challenge.  While we have transformed and adapted our program, we need your support to help fund the necessary experiential and simulation learning experiences.  If we can not raise money, we will be forced to pass this cost on-to our students.  I plead for your help in spreading the word and consider a donation to support a dietetic interns experiential learning prospects.

OVERALL PROGRAM GOALS:

Dietitians are experts in the use of food and nutrition to promote health and manage disease. The program's mission is to provide future RD/RDN's experiential hands-on supervised practice with a concentration on culturally competent health promotion and disease prevention in a variety of dietetic settings within the Central Valley. Please get involved today by donating and/or sharing about our unique program.

Our graduates work with preceptor affiliate agencies and spend their time completing 1,000 practice hours in acute care hospitals, clinics, sports nutrition, schools, governmental agencies (WIC, CalFresh, Veterans etc.), and a prison. With the "new normal" these students now expected to spend up to 400 hours completing alternative professional experiential learning, due to the shortage of preceptor affiliate agencies and their guidelines. These simulations help provide nutrition education, meal planning, food budgeting, clinical interventions such as weight loss, quantity food production, food safety and improved overall health outcomes for many disease states.

OUTCOMES AND IMPACT OF OUR PROGRAM:

In May 2021, our program graduated its 232nd dietetic intern under pandemic conditions.  Eleven interns graduated and are preparing to enter the workforce as essential workers.  In August 2021, we welcomed 11 new dietetic interns ready to face the challenge of learning in unprecedented times.  In addition to the importance of nutrition during a pandemic, our community is home too many chronic diseases and health disparities such as obesity, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung disorders, where dietitians are vital to the success of fighting those disparities.  Our program over the last four years can report that 74% of our graduates maintain employment in the Fresno metropolitan area and/or Central San Joaquin Valley.  When interns come to our program, they stay and find work with our local community.