FAQs

The weather in VA is typically seasonal with a spring (cool to warm), summer (hot and humid), and winter (cool-cold).

It may snow in the winter.  From year to year the amount of snowfall will vary, but usually VA does not get heavy amounts of snowfall.

Not necessary.

Travel will depend on where you decide to live.  It could be as close to 10 minutes from your home or over 90 minutes.

Although we are unable to give you an exact amount, you can count on this to be significant since the cost of gas is always rising and the internship requires you to travel a lot.

In the immediate Richmond area there is some public transportation with buses, but for the purposes of this internship public transportation is not an option.  Outside the Richmond city limits and surrounding areas public transportation is not widely available.

If you are moving from out of state it is wise to wait until you find out where you will have most of rotations scheduled.  Then pick an area close to cut the cost and travel time. There are many resources that you should utilize as you move into the area such as the other interns and where they will be living, Craigslist, Richmond Times Dispatch (inrich.com) and searching on Google.

There will be some time for a social life on weekends and when you are not working on assignments during the week.

After rotations during the week and during weekends. Usually requires about 5-10 hours during the week and additional hours during the weekend.

Although there is not much time for visiting during the internship here are some good places to visit during free time. Richmond-theaters, museums; Virginia Beach-waterfront; Williamsburg- Busch-Gardens, colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown. Please visit Virginia.org for more travel and places to visit in Virginia.

Yes! Please visit The Virginia State University Dietetic Internship page on Facebook. It is a great way to break the ice! It also may help with living situations, etc.

Although it is usually not recommended some part-time work during the weekend is possible.

Although we are unable to give an exact amount, at some of your rotation sites you may receive free meals depending on the sites/hospitals during clinical and foodservice.

Very little unless you personally choose to spend more time on campus. You will have classes every Friday on campus. Besides that, you have orientation, two weeks of food service and eight weeks of research on campus.

Hours will vary from intern to intern (besides the fact that they will always add up to 36 hours per week). A typical foodservice could be as early as 6-4 or more normal from 8am-5:30pm and clinical is usually 8am-5:30pm.

You should start applying after Christmas Break into the spring. 

Look for jobs around where you want to live. You can use websites like careerbuilder.com and monster.com, but also focusing on health system and hospitals websites can be a resource. Don’t forget about the ADA website and each state dietetic association website. There are also many nutrition job and dietitian job websites out there so you have to search. Use your connections, you will meet many dietitians during the internship use their connection to your advantage!

Yes your instructor will have a lecture on resumes and she will be happy to proofread it for you as well.

Yes, but most the useful are your MNT, and Foodservice books.  They do get outdated, but they will be helpful in completing study guides over the summer and useful as a resource in general. 

Yes, they could be very helpful with any questions you may have.