Fontbonne University’s Family and Consumer Sciences Department has unveiled a coordinated program in nutrition and dietetics that allows students to earn both their bachelor’s and master’s degrees and complete their required supervised practice experience in only 4.5 academic years. Upon completion of the program, students will be eligible to sit for the credentialing examination for registered dietitian nutritionists (RDNs).
Fontbonne is currently one of two schools in Missouri and the 35th in the United States to offer a coordinated dietetics program accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). Beginning in January of 2024, all graduates will be required to hold a master’s degree to become RDN credentialed.
“Creating one seamless path to obtain a bachelor’s degree, master’s degree and the required supervised practice experience is the best way we can serve our students,” said Dena French, EdD, RDN, LD, assistant professor and director of Fontbonne’s coordinated program in nutrition and dietetics. “This accelerated option prepares students for their careers in a way that is both thorough and efficient.”
In addition to completing comprehensive coursework in nutrition, dietetics and health promotion, all students in Fontbonne’s coordinated program will gain supervised practice experience in clinical, community and food service settings, such as SSM Health, Mercy Health, BJC HealthCare, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), St. Louis Area Foodbank, and Chartwell School, among other sites.
Fontbonne will welcome its first cohort of students entering the coordinated program on July 6, 2020.
For more information about Fontbonne’s coordinated program in nutrition and dietetics, visit http://bit.ly/32gzqZp.
