Application

HENRY FORD HOSPITAL
Dietetic Internship Program
Department of Food and Nutrition Services

C/o of Ashlee Carnahan
2799 West Grand Boulevard
Detroit, Michigan 48202-2689
(313) 916-3473

Qualifications of Applicants

Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND) Accreditation Standards require programs to have policies and procedures in place to ensure that applicable degree and coursework requirements are completed before Dietetic Internship enrollment. Applicants must have a verification statement from a Didactic Program in Dietetics (DPD) or Foreign Dietitian Education Program (FDE) by a U.S. accredited college/university or foreign equivalent.

For Graduate Degree option and to receive graduate credit: Student must apply to Michigan State University’s Graduate Degree along with Henry Ford Hospital Internship

Minimum GPA: A 3.0 is the minimum grade point average an applicant must have to be considered for an appointment to the Program.

Prior Work Experience: Professional experiences in hospital, clinical dietetics, or hospital food service, in community nutrition or in any health care or food service activity along with supervisory experiences are evaluated. Experiences may be as an employee or as a volunteer: forty (40) hours minimum and confirmation of this experience is required in at least one of the reference letters.

Activities & Organizations: Applicants' extracurricular activities and organizational memberships provide additional insight into their interests and ability to work with others, motivation, maturity and leadership potential.

Foreign Degree Applicants

Applicants, who have obtained their education outside of the U.S. and its territories, must have their academic degree(s) validated as equivalent to the degree conferred by a regionally accredited college or university in the U.S. The original foreign degree equivalency statement must accompany the application form. Validation of a foreign degree does not eliminate the need for a Verification Statement of completion of a Didactic Program in Dietetics. Please refer to this website for further information: Foreign Degree Evaluation Agencies.

Selection of Dietetic Interns

Number of Interns: Eight applicants are accepted into the HFH Dietetic Internship Program each year.

Selection Criteria: A selection committee reviews each application for overall GPA, GPA for professional and science courses, work experience, letters of recommendation, letter of application, extracurricular activities, virtual interview and leadership potential. Additionally, the application is evaluated on content, clarity, thoroughness and presentation. Written communication skills and personal objectives are important in the process.

Interviews: The Program Director schedules interviews with qualified applicants. Any expenses incurred because of the interview are the responsibility of the applicant. In addition, applicants are welcome to come and tour the facility and meet with the Internship Director to discuss the Program. Contact Ashlee Carnahan (313) 916-3473 or email acarnah1@hfhs.org to arrange a personal interview and/or tour.

Nondiscrimination: Henry Ford Health, its affiliates and educational programs do not discriminate against applicants to its programs. Application forms do not require information about race, religion, sex, national origin, age, height, weight, marital status, familial status, handicap or disabled veteran status. After admission, a request may be made for some of the above information for analysis of admission trends.

Application Phase

The Henry Ford Hospital Dietetic Internship Program participates in the Dietetic Internship Centralized Application System (DICAS). All applications must be submitted through DICAS.
As part of the application process, you will need to:

Complete the on-line application which includes listing of your work and volunteer experiences, calculated grade point and a copy of your personal statement.
Request an official transcript from each college and university and submit via online application process.

Deadline Dates

Each Dietetic Internship of interest must receive your application through DICAS.

January 15, 2025 is the application deadline. Offers will be made on a rolling basis until the final due date of March 1, 2025. Applicants will be notified they are waitlisted if 8 offers have already been extended. March 15, 2025 is the final decision date for students if they have received an offer.

DICAS charges $50 for the first program you apply to and $25 for each additional program. There is also 100.00 application fee for the Henry Ford Hospital Dietetic Internship Program.

For help with application-related questions, you can log in to your application and contact DICAS using the chat icon in the lower right corner. You can also contact DICAS by email at support@dicas.myliaison.com or by phone at (617) 612-2855. If you need accommodations or assistance regarding the accessibility of DICAS, please contact customer support at (617) 612-2855.

Henry Ford Dietetic Internship further requires:

A virtual interview set up by the Internship Director. Please send a phone number and e-mail address so that the interviews may be set up. The virtual interview is planned for 10 minutes and the applicant is evaluated for: 

• Ability to cope with change
• Conflict Management skills
• Decision making skills
• Communication skills

An application fee of $100.00 which is non-refundable and must be post marked by final day of application submission January 15, 2025. Checks are to be made payable to HFH Dietetic Internship Program and sent to:

Dietetic Internship Program
c/o Ashlee Carnahan, MS, RD
Henry Ford Hospital
Department of Food and Nutrition Services
2799 West Grand Boulevard
Detroit, Michigan 48202-2689

Return of Application Materials

Application materials of those persons not receiving an appointment to HFH are not returned.

Further Applicant Responsibilities:

Applicants are responsible for obtaining current application materials from the Dietetic Internships (DI). The basic steps in this process are:

Obtain current application materials from selected Dietetic Internships at least 6 months prior. Please note that DI application forms are not available on the A.N.D web site or from A.N.D staff. You must get all required application information from the DI programs.

Discuss application materials with your Didactic Program Director, if available.

Obtain the Declaration of Intent to Complete form or a Verification Statement from your Didactic Program Director. One of these standardized forms is provided by the Didactic Program Director and is required as part of the DI application materials.

Request 3 references from advisor / faculty / employers and order official transcripts as needed for each DI application.

Complete each DI application according to instructions provided with the application and submit the materials to the DI director by the designated deadline date. Questions about completing applications should be referred to the DI Director or your DPD Director, not A.N.D. staff.

Provide telephone number(s) and email with applications where you can be reached to be contacted if an offer is extended.

Applicants must register on the dicas.liaisoncas.com, pay the computer matching fee with a credit card and submit their prioritized list of selected dietetic internships online to D&D Digital before the designated deadline dates. 

Appointment Phase

Applicants who submitted a Declaration of Intent to complete form with their DI applications must obtain a signed DPD Verification Statement from their DPD Program Director and official transcript documenting completion of the undergraduate degree before they may begin the DI.

Upon accepting an offer with the Henry Ford Hospital Dietetic Internship, interns must submit an application to the Master of Science Degree in Nutrition and Dietetics at Michigan State University. To apply, follow the instructions on https://grad.msu.edu/apply. Acceptance into the Henry Ford Hospital internship is contingent upon acceptance to The Graduate School at Michigan State University. If not accepted into MSU, the intern will not be accepted into the Henry Ford Hospital Internship program.

Our internship program selection criteria aligns with MSU graduate program selection standards.

Dietetics Inclusive Centralized Application Services

The Dietetics Inclusive Centralized Application Services (DICAS) is a web-based application service that simplifies the dietetics application process by allowing applicants to apply to multiple programs with one application. Visit the DICAS Platform to search for and apply dietetics programs (DI, CP, GP and ISPPs) of interest.

For the 2024-2025 cycle, some CP and GP may not be using DICAS. If the program you are interested in does not appear in DICAS, check the program's website for directions on how to apply or contact the program director.

Contact Information

• If you need assistance with the centralized application, please contact DICAS customer support at (617) 612-2855.
• If you have any general questions about applying to dietetics programs, contact ACEND.