HNSC practicum courses

The nutrition practicum provides placements for students pursuing a dietetics career AND those that are pursing other nutrition-related careers. The practicum coordinator aims to find a placement that will be a best-fit by connecting a student to future career ideas, in and outside of dietetics.

This is a six-credit-hour course that runs from September to April. In this course, students are assigned to a supervisor in a professional workplace environment to gain experience in a practical setting. This course provides an opportunity to work in a community-based nutrition program, government setting or health care facility where the concepts learned in the classroom can be applied to practical problems and projects. In addition to the 100 hours of work completed at the assigned practicum site, students are required to attend classes as scheduled and complete assignments that are related to their placement.

Efforts will be made to match students with a practicum placement that has been requested on the student practicum application form. However, placement sites vary each year and a best-fit will be employed to assign all students that have been accepted for a practicum placement. Students should be aware that placements may include experiences in one or more areas, such as food service, nutrition education, health promotion, and/or research.

• the opportunity for “hands-on” learning
• networking with professionals in the field of nutrition/dietetics and other health disciplines
• opportunity to work with the public
• applying theory to real life situations
• applying or developing skills including, interpersonal, communication, problem solving, educational program development, time management
• the opportunity to develop self-direction in their learning
• feeling that they have made a contribution to an organization or community-based setting
• developing a sense of identity as a professional