title: Enhanced dietetics education through collaboration: a study to identify opportunities.
abstract: With the aim of enhancing dietetics education in Nova Scotia, key stakeholders were engaged in identifying current practice issues along with opportunities for collaboration to address them. A survey containing five open-ended questions was distributed by email to a purposive sample of 24 participants affiliated with three universities with dietetics programs. Participants fell into five categories: internship coordinators, dietetics educators, recent internship graduates, current interns, and prospective interns. The response rate was 58%. Data were thematically analyzed through a process of constant comparison. Primary themes emerged, which reflected survey participants' concerns about three current practice issues: province-wide standards, internship placement availability, and the overall educational experience. Additional comments suggested that overall dietetic educational experiences could be improved if relevant clinical experiences were offered and preceptor workloads were accommodated. The creation of province-wide standards for assessing interns' level of competency was perceived to offer multiple benefits, including decreased preceptor workloads. Participants believed that collaborative actions might increase internship placements and improve the overall dietetic internship experience for interns and preceptors.
authors.affiliation: Mount Saint Vincent University.
authors.forename: Allison
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Proudfoot
authors.affiliation: Mount Saint Vincent University.
authors.forename: Daphne
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Lordly
authors.affiliation: Mount Saint Vincent University.
authors.forename: Paula
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barry
authors.affiliation: Acadia University.
authors.forename: Barb
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Anderson
authors.affiliation: St. Francis Xavier University.
authors.forename: Doris
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Gillis
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003299:Cooperative Behavior; D034742:Electronic Mail; D006801:Humans; D007397:Internship, Nonmedical; D009674:Nova Scotia; D064686:Nutritionists / Q000193:education* / Q000592:standards; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires