Dietetics

Overview

About the Dietetics programme from University of Oklahoma

This career field is highly flexible! RDNs work across the spectrum of health and disease, from developing new methods of food production and food service to preventing disease and enhancing performance in healthy individuals to reducing the burden of disease after diagnosis. There are 3 steps to becoming an RDN: classroom education, internship experience (also called supervised practice), and passing the national registration exam. 

OU’s Coordinated Master of Arts in Dietetics program is unique in Oklahoma because it seamlessly combines classroom instruction with the internship experience. Students take classes at the same time that they complete over 1200 internship hours—what they learn in class, they put immediately into practice. Students work with talented preceptors throughout the state of Oklahoma to gain on-the-job training for a variety of career paths and begin networking for future employment opportunities. Upon graduation from the program, they are ready to take the national registration exam and become an RDN.

Students must have a strong science background as preparation for this challenging program. After meeting prerequisite courses, they can then apply to the Nutritional Sciences program which begins each fall semester. If accepted to the program, students begin coursework specific to nutrition. Courses include Experimental Foods (the science of cooking), Nutrition during the Life Cycle (normal nutrition care for all stages of the life cycle from pregnancy to old age), Medical Nutrition Therapy (nutrition intervention for people with disease), Quantity Foods and Food Service Management (how to direct a production kitchen and run a nutrition-related business), and Community Nutrition (reaching large populations with nutrition education).