What specific activities, assigned in the Aramark Dietetic Internship, do graduates perceive build

their skills and abilities as a leader?

R. Herron, BS, M. Plachta, BS, M. Piekara, BS, A. DeMage, MS, RDN, LD
Aramark Distance Learning Dietetic Internship Program, Philadelphia PA

ABSTRACT
A leader is one who selects, equips, trains and influences one or more followers who have a
diverse set of gifts, abilities, and skills. Taking on that leadership is an acquired skill developed over
an individuals lifetime of experiences. Within the field of Dietetics there are many challenges, yet
great opportunities for individuals to become successful leaders. To evaluate how the field of
dietetics helps mold individuals into leaders and furthers dietetic interns leadership abilities, a
research study was conducted. The research will be discovering what specific activities in the
Aramark Dietetic Internship do past graduates perceive build their skills and abilities as a leader.
The research will use a cross-sectional survey design, where a sample is selected from one or
more populations at one time. The population being examined are the Aramark Dietetic Intern
graduates from the past two years, those who graduated in 2014 and 2015. A survey was
distributed by email for these graduates to complete and to help aid in the research data collection.
The survey asked various questions related to the dietetic interns leadership ability before and after
the internship as well as questions related specifically to the assignments assigned throughout all
three major rotations: Management, Community, and Clinical. Each rotation had a specific activity
that built the interns leadership skills more than another. Results also concluded that after
completion of the Aramark Dietetic Internship, over 80% of the past graduates believed their
abilities and confidence as a leader enhanced.

INTRODUCTION
Dietetics is an excellent field of study that provides challenges as well as great opportunities for
individuals to become successful leaders. The rapidly changing technology, the advancing medical
field, the health care competition, and the science of nutrition are just of the few reasons why the
nutrition field continues to evolve and change. In response to this rapidly changing field, the
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, is calling for all dietitians to be the nations food and nutrition
leaders. Leadership opportunities for future and existing dietitians will only continue to present
themselves. This only further indicates how important leadership will be in the field of dietetics.

METHODOLOGY

DISCUSSION

A cross-sectional study design will be used to evaluate this research project. The research project will use one population; the graduates of the Aramark dietetic internship to
respond to the survey created by the researcher. The survey will contain a variety of questions in order to receive results about their experiences and how it influenced their
leadership skills. The results will be measured and evaluated based on the feedback received. Survey Monkey, an online data tool, will be used to develop, administer, and
collect data for the project. The survey will include questions about the past graduates gender, age, race, year they graduated, and what position(s) they have held or
currently hold in a leadership position since graduating from the dietetic Internship. The survey will always ask about specific assigned activities and how effective those
activities were in building their leadership skills. The emails of the past graduates will be given to the researcher from the Internship Directors prior to sending out the survey.
The survey will be sent via email to past those graduates with a link to the survey and they will have ten days to complete it.

Before the internship, 74.14% of graduates felt somewhat confident and lower as a
leader, while 25.72% of graduates felt most of the time confident or higher.
After the internship, 82.85% of graduates felt most of the time confident or higher,
which is a 57.14% increase.
After completion of the Aramark Dietetic Internship, 82.86% of graduates stated the
internship itself built their confidence as a leader.

Resources for this research project were minimal. The resources to implement the intervention planned for the project are Survey Monkey and emails of the two previous
graduating classes from the Aramark Dietetic internship. There will be no facilities needed to implement the project. Those participating in the survey will need access to the
Internet and a computer to complete the survey. The researchers will use Survey Monkey and Microsoft Excel to organize and analyze the data. There will be no cost to the
participants or the researchers for the resources needed to complete the research.

Limitations:
Some of the emails were not current.
Completing the survey took around 10-15 minutes.
The survey was sent out to 77 graduates, however, only 38 responded.
Future Research Suggestions:
Looking into the difference of assigned assignments between distance
internships vs university internships.
What leadership qualities do internship directors look for in future dietetic
interns.
Further looking into the specific activities and why

RESULTS
Demographics Results:
Total of 38 graduates completed the survey
35 females and 3 males
20 responders graduated in 2015
18 responders graduated in 2014
51.35% were in the 25-34 years old range
40.54% were in the 18-24 years old range

CONCLUSION

The assigned activity deemed most effective was the completion of the
Community Project with 60% of responders choosing this activity. However,
Presentations received 57.14% of responses as well, making both of these
activities effective in building leadership skills.

One of the most important and beneficial ways the field of dietetics allows students and future
dietitians to become successful leaders is through the acceptance into a dietetic internship (DI).
These accredited programs are an excellent way for students to showcase leadership abilities and
qualities. This accredited program requires supervised practice hours in a clinical, management, and
community setting as well as completing quizzes, tests, and projects. By looking into the activities
completed during the course of a DI, whether required or offered, the coursework done could
potentially continue to develop and improve leadership skills in dietetic students. A study will be
conducted, specifically looking into the Aramark Dietetic Internship, to determine if in fact,
internships help provide leadership opportunities through specific activities, which ultimately develop
better leadership skills in future dietitians.

Which activity assigned during clinical rotation were

most effective in building your leadership skills?
Staff relief week(s)

CONTACT INFORMATION

45.71%

Meeting with other disciplines

What specific activities, assigned in the Aramark Dietetic Internship, do graduates

perceive build their skills and abilities as a leader?

71.43%

Clinical quizzes and cumulative tests

The top two activities were Staff Relief, 77.14%, and the Business Plan Project,
54.29%. Only 2.86% felt the plate waste study contributed to building leadership skills.

25.71%

For additional information, please contact:

Clinical Case Report Project

0.00%

The purpose of this research project was to determine if the Aramark Dietetic
internship helped provide leadership opportunities through specific assigned
activities. This project was also used to analyze what specific activities completed
during the internship developed and improved the leadership skills in the dietetic
interns. Overall, 82.86% of the graduates, who completed in the survey, felt that
completion of the dietetic internship did indeed build their confidence as a leader.

74.29%

Clinical evaluations

RESEARCH QUESTION

DI programs are an excellent way for students to showcase leadership abilities

and qualities. This accredited program requires supervised practice hours in a
clinical, management, and community setting as well as completing quizzes,
tests, and projects. A study was conducted, specifically looking into the Aramark
Dietetic Internship, to determine if in fact, internships help provide leadership
opportunities through specific activities, which ultimately develop better
leadership skills in future dietitians.

51.43%
20.00%

40.00%

60.00%

80.00%

100.00%

Those deemed most effective were Staff Relief receiving 74.29% and meeting
with other disciplinary team members receiving 71.43%. During the clinical
rotation, the results indicate interns discussed and interacted with members of
the clinical team.

Rachel Herron, Mary Plachta, Malwina Piekara

Aramark Dietetic Interns
herron-rachel@aramark.com, plachta-mary@aramark.com, piekaramalwina@aramark.com
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