Registered dietitians, exercise therapists and other team members in the Nutrition Services Department (NSD) at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, assist patients and staff in making informed food choices and developing healthy eating and physical activity habits. Dietetic interns at WRNMMC also help Military Health System beneficiaries develop healthy eating and lifestyle habits.
The interns come to WRNMMC as part of the two-phase U.S. Military-Baylor Graduate Program in Nutrition (GPN). WRNMMC is one of the host sites for Phase 2 of the program, when interns continue their education and training with a goal of earning a master's degree in nutrition from Baylor University, as well as a Dietetic Internship Verification Statement, making them eligible to sit for the National Registration Examination for Dietitians.
Before entering the nutrition internship program, candidates must have completed a bachelor's degree in nutrition and/or dietetics and have a verification statement from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND), which accredits the internship.
"WRNMMC is one of four hospital-based Phase 2 sites," stated Shawntel Green, a registered and licensed dietitian nutritionist who serves as site coordinator for the U.S. Military Dietetic Internship Program at Walter Reed Bethesda. She explained the first phase of the program, the didactic portion, lasts approximately nine months at the Graduate School on Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston, Texas. Phase 2, the internship and research portion, lasts a year.
In addition to WRNMMC, other locations for Phase 2 of the program are Brooke Army Medical Center at Joint Base San Antonio-Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, Texas; Madigan Army Medical Center at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma, Washington; and Womack Army Medical Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
"Currently, there are about 15 interns per class, however, with our increased mission of H2F [Holistic Health and Fitness], the goal will be to grow to approximately 30 interns," Green explained. "Typically, this equates to around five [to seven] interns per site," she added.