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Direct economic benefits associated with dietetic internships
1Division of Applied Research, University of Southern Mississippi, Hattiesburg 39406-0077.
Journal of the American Dietetic Association
|February 1, 1994
Summary
Hospital dietetics departments gain significant economic benefits from sponsoring dietetic internships. Interns provide valuable labor, freeing up professional staff time and contributing to departmental productivity.
Area of Science:
- Healthcare Management
- Nutrition and Dietetics
- Health Economics
Background:
- Hospital dietetics departments often sponsor dietetic internships.
- The direct economic impact of these internships on departments is not well-documented.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify the direct economic benefits derived by hospital dietetics departments from hosting dietetic interns.
- To establish a model for assessing the economic contributions of supervised practice programs.
Main Methods:
- A mail survey was conducted with 45 US hospital dietetics departments.
- Data were collected via activity logs from 298 dietitians and interns.
- Economic benefits were calculated based on net student labor during routine and staff relief experiences.
Main Results:
- Dietetic interns provided a mean of 29 hours of independent professional service per week during routine learning.
- All participating departments benefited economically from assigning interns to staff relief rotations, gaining a median of 24 weeks of student labor annually.
- The contribution of student labor significantly exceeded the time spent by dietitians on teaching (P < .001).
Conclusions:
- Sponsoring dietetic internships yields demonstrable positive economic outcomes for hospital departments.
- This study provides a framework for program directors to evaluate the financial impact of their supervised practice programs.