Applicants to the USU MDA have the opportunity to train anywhere in the United States. Those interested in training in Utah must be graduating, or be a graduate of, an accredited dietetic undergraduate program in Utah or currently reside in the state.
Outside of Utah
For students training outside of Utah, the USU MDA is uniquely flexible. The design allows students to choose their training locations and schedule rotations at a time that is convenient for them. This option requires applicants to arrange ALL of their practice facilities and preceptors on their own. Applicants will find preceptors for clinical, food service systems management and community rotations.
Southern California residents: Applicants who are planning to train in Southern California, please contact Lacie Peterson before contacting potential preceptors for your Community/WIC rotations.
Florida residents: Florida laws can make executing affiliation agreements difficult. We still review applications for Florida, but want applicants to be aware that alternative plans may need to be arranged.
While completing the application, applicants training outside of Utah will need to complete the full Rotation Summary Form and submit with their application. Download the Rotation Summary Form. This form needs to be included in your supplemental materials in the DICAS application. Refer back to the application instructions for information on the required forms. In addition to the Rotation Summary Form, applicants need to ask preceptors to complete the preceptor paperwork as outlined in the application instructions. For more information on finding preceptors and acceptable training facilities review the information on who can be a preceptor.
Inside of Utah
Training positions inside of Utah are reserved for graduates of accredited dietetic undergraduate programs in Utah or students already residing in Utah*.
Due to restrictions on locations and available training times, training locations in Utah are not as flexible as outside of Utah. Applicants may request specific regions in Utah; however, requests are not guaranteed. The master schedule and training sites for those students training in Utah will be arranged by the USU MDA Faculty.
Training locations in Utah include the cities and counties along the Wasatch Front (Cache County to Utah County). Please DO NOT contact preceptors in any of the counties listed on your own. The following list of counties are considered "Inside of Utah": Box Elder, Cache, Davis, Morgan, Rich, Salt Lake, Summit, Tooele, Utah, Wasatch, and Weber.
Other locations in Utah, such as St. George or Central Utah, are considered "outside of Utah" locations. Students interested in these areas should follow the directions for outside of Utah applicants explained above.
While completing the application, applicants wishing to train exclusively inside of Utah only need to complete the top half of the Rotation Summary Form UT. Download the Rotation Summary Form. This form needs to be included in your supplemental materials in the DICAS application. Refer back to the application instructions for information on the required forms.
*If you currently reside in Utah, but did not complete your DPD coursework at a Utah-based school, contact Nikki Kendrick at nikki.kendrick@usu.edu or 435-797-4230.
Utah-Hybrid
The Utah-Hybrid option allows students to complete some of their SEL in Utah and the remainder of their SEL outside the state. Students applying for Utah-Hybrid placement will be required to secure their clinical SEL rotations (IPC, OPC, LTC) outside of Utah. If a student finds their clinical SEL rotations outside of Utah, the USU MDA will arrange the student's food service systems management and community SEL rotations inside of Utah.
Training positions inside of Utah are reserved for graduates of accredited dietetic undergraduate programs in Utah, or students already residing in Utah. Contact Nikki Kendrick if you have questions about your eligibility for completing rotations in Utah.
Applying for Utah-Hybrid training gives qualified, Utah-based applicants a better chance of acceptance to the MDA than only applying for an Inside Utah placement.
The schedule and training sites for the inside of Utah rotations will be arranged by the USU MDA faculty upon acceptance to the program. The SEL rotations arranged by faculty will take place in facilities along the Wasatch Front (Cache County to Utah County). The USU MDA will work with each student to arrange inside of Utah rotations around the student's outside of Utah rotations. Final schedules will be provided in late April.
Please DO NOT contact preceptors in Utah (along the Wasatch Front) on your own.
While completing the application, Utah-Hybrid applicants need to complete the full Rotation Summary Form UT. Download the Rotation Summary Form. This form needs to be included in your supplemental materials in the DICAS application. Refer back to the application instructions for information on the required forms. However, they only need to list facilities and preceptor information for the rotations that have been set up to be completed outside of Utah. In addition to the Rotation Summary Form, applicants need to ask preceptors to complete the preceptor paperwork as outlined in the application instructions. These forms must be submitted with your supplemental materials or via the online form. For more information on finding preceptors and acceptable training facilities review the information on who can be a preceptor.