Bachelor of Human Nutrition and Foods at West Virginia University

Becoming a Dietitian

The path to become a registered dietitian nutritionist includes a bachelor's and master's degree, completing a dietetic internship from an ACEND-accredited program, and passing the national registration exam. At WVU, students who wish to become a registered dietitian nutritionist must:

1. earn a bachelor's degree and complete the Didactic Program in Dietetics with a cumulative GPA of 2.5;
2. apply for and complete an ACEND-accredited dietetic internship program or Individual Supervised Practice Pathway;
3. pass the Commission on Dietetic Registration's dietetic registration exam;
4. gain licensure if required in your state of practice;
5. maintain continuing education. Note that in 2024, a graduate degree will be required to be eligible to take the Commission on Dietetic Registration exam. In addition to the ACEND-accredited DPD, WVU offers an ACEND-accredited dietetic internship associated with a master's degree. An undergraduate degree from WVU does not guarantee acceptance into the WVU dietetic internship

This program of study is additionally a good pre-professional option for students who wish to pursue the professional school programs of human medicine and the allied health professions, such as physician assistant school and medical school.

Students are required to complete core courses as well as courses in food science, nutrition, food service management, psychology, chemistry, biology, physiology, and microbiology.  Students are encouraged to select electives in areas that support anticipated career preferences, e.g., business, food science, nutritional biochemistry, advertising, writing, and exercise physiology.  There are required electives for the Didactic Program in Dietetics, and students who wish to pursue a registered dietitian nutritionist pathway should declare the Area of Emphasis (AoE) in Dietetics during their sophomore year.

Students must meet cumulative GPA requirements of 2.5 or higher to receive a verification statement.  After completion of the Didactic Program in Dietetics requirements and receiving a verification statement, seniors are eligible to apply for competitive dietetic internships by participating in a national match.  Acceptance into an internship is not guaranteed.  The dietetic internship involves an additional one to two years of education and supervised practice, depending on the site and whether graduate study is included.  Upon completion of the internship (and a graduate degree beginning in 2024), the graduate is eligible to take the examination to become a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN). Students are also able to receive a verification statement to take the DTR (Diet Tech Registered) exam after graduation from our program with a 2.5 GPA or greater.

Human Nutrition and Foods

1. Graduates will acquire a high level of competency in the basic sciences required for disciplinary competency.
2. Graduates will integrate basic knowledge and managerial skills related to the nutritional and food science disciplines.
3. Graduates will acquire sufficient written and oral communication skills, problem solving and critical thinking skills to effectively impact lifelong societal and professional developments critical to their respective discipline of interest.
4. Graduates will attain depth of knowledge relative to the scope of subfields of human nutritional sciences.