Training Interns in Nutrition and Dietetics: Barriers and Motivators to Being a Preceptor

Objectives Identify the perceptions and attitudes associated with the preceptor role and incentives that might encourage precepting among nutrition and dietetics professionals in the United States. Methods A random sample of RDN and NDTR professionals from the Commission on Dietetic Registration credentialed practitioner database were invited to complete an online survey about knowledge, attitudes, and perceptions of the preceptor role. The survey was adapted from previous published instruments and validated via external content review, pretesting and post-test evaluation with pilot respondents. Results A total of 311 of 2464 invited eligible participants completed the survey, yielding a response rate of 12.6%. The majority of the sample was white, non-Hispanic with an average age of 44 years. More participants had never served as a preceptor (41%) compared to those that were current preceptors (38%) or former preceptors (21%). Respondents were asked what types of incentives would encourage them to continue to train interns or to consider precepting. The top incentives for all participants were the opportunity to earn continuing education units (65.9%) and having expenses paid to attend a national conference (49.5%). Significantly more (P < .001) former preceptors and those that never precepted reported the ability to choose when to take an intern, training on how to teach and communicate with interns and access to an “on-call” specialist for help or assistance with issues when they arise as incentives compared to current preceptors. Significantly more (P < .01) participants who have never precepted reported training on the internship expectations and the ability to provide input on intern selection process were incentives compared to current or former preceptors. Conclusions Incentives to serve as a preceptor differ based on current, former or never served as a preceptor status. Our results suggest promoting and strategizing solutions to the current imbalance between dietetic internship applicants and qualified preceptors should be targeted based on current, former or never precepted status in order to retain current preceptors, encourage former preceptors to return to precepting and recruit professionals that have never served as preceptors. Funding Sources None

Research Involvement Continuum Level of Dietetic Internship Directors

Research is considered to be the foundation of the profession of dietetics, and it is a required component of the dietetic internship (DI) curriculum. However, studies have shown that dietitians, including dietetic educators, are not highly involved with research. This research-competency gap has been studied in the literature, but the role of DI directors, who are the gatekeepers of DI programs, have not been included in empirical discussions on this topic. The purpose of this study was to identify where DI directors fall on the research involvement continuum as defined by the Research Involvement Questionnaire (RIQ) and to identify the types of factors that influence DI directors’ involvement with research. In this cross-sectional survey study that included 96 DI directors, research involvement of DI directors was limited. Using the four levels of the research involvement continuum, it was found that more participants were classified into level one (low research experience) than levels two through four combined. Research involvement was most related to education/training, professional experience, and research experience. Based upon the theory of experiential learning, dietetic educators must have meaningful experiences with research in order to reach the higher levels on the research continuum. The findings from this study can be used to better prepare DI directors and other dietetic educators as well as to inform curricular decisions to better align education and practice within the profession of dietetics.