Nutrition and Dietetics
Discovering Your Career in Nutrition and Dietetics
Nutrition and Dietetics is a diverse field, with practitioners employed in a variety of settings, including clinical dietetics, community nutrition, nutrition and food service management, and education and research.
Our program at Southern Miss has a strong history of success in the field and boasts an excellent curriculum as well as experiential learning. Our Didactic Program has a 90+% placement rate for post-baccalaureate dietetic internships and a 90+% first time pass rate on the RD exam.
What will I learn?
Nutrition and Dietetics is an ever-changing field. You will get a foundation in the sciences to understand how nutrients impact the body and how microorganisms are related to food. In addition, you will learn how food relates to the development and treatment of disease, how to assess and educate individuals, and how to manage food service operations. You will learn how food and nutrition impact the overall health and wellness of communities, and physical and chemical properties of food are affected by cooking.
The Nutrition and Dietetics program has several grade and progression requirements. Students must meet and maintain specific GPA requirements and meet course pre-requisite requirements, as well.
Didactic Program in Dietetics Description, Goals and Outcomes
Students have the opportunity to apply for internships related to child nutrition and food safety. These programs directly relate to the content provided in the curriculum and help expand opportunities for students.
Opportunities to participate in research exist in several courses. Students participate in community-based participatory research in their community nutrition class. In the experimental foods class each student creates a project to develop, assess, and modify a food product. Students also have the opportunity to collaborate with program faculty on research projects.
A total of 9 program scholarships are available to students enrolled in the program.
Scholarships are based on academic merit and potential for success in the profession
of nutrition and dietetics.
Nutrition faculty provide expertise and hands-on learning
Nutrition and Dietetics faculty have a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences. Teaching assignments are based on expertise of the faculty member, allowing students to learn from the faculty most qualified to teach specific course content. All faculty are dedicated to hands-on learning, providing experiential activities that help build the skills needed for the workplace.
Availability
| Degree Plan | Availability |
|---|---|
| Nutrition and Dietetics (Didactic Program in Dietetics) BS | Hattiesburg |
- Clinical Dietetics
- Nutrition and Wellness Education
- Community and Public Health
- Food Systems Management
- Nutrition Researcher
- Corporate Wellness
- Virginia Boles, 2014,
Registered Dietitian, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Mississippi - Ashley Bryant, 2013,
Research Dietitian, The University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg, MS
- Tiffany Mei Haug, 2014,
Eating Disorders Dietitian, Every BODY Behavioral Health and Pediatric Dietitian, Rady’s Children’s Hospital, San Diego, CA - Karen Johnson, 2015,
Registered Dietitian, The Women’s Clinic, Jackson, MS
- Rebecca Butz, 2013,
Rebecca Butz, 2013, Renal Dietitian, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS