Students in the Nutrition MPH program will receive experiential learning opportunities in the classroom, in the community and in professional practice settings. During the first and second academic years, some of these will take place in the classroom and community through case studies and simulations. These experiences are supervised by the course instructor and are intended to prepare the student for entering professional practice settings. The Nutrition MPH program does not have a policy in place for assessing prior learning or competence and therefore does not grant Supervised Experiential Learning credit for students’ prior learning.

During the spring semester of the first academic year, students participate in 140 hours of Supervised Experiential Learning in food service settings. The Supervised Experiential Learning is connected to the Food Preparation and Management I (NUTR 5087) course, taught by a nutrition faculty member to enhance didactic learning with hands-on experience in food service operations.

In the summer following the first academic year, students complete the first part of a two-semester experience, spending 420 hours in a community or public health nutrition setting. Students will work with the field placement coordinator for the site assignment that meets their professional goals. This experience is supplemented with 80 hours of community nutrition experience integrated into two classes, Nutrition Education and Counseling (NUTR 5187, 40 hours) and Cultural and Community Nutrition (NUTR 5887, 40 hours).

Following completion of their public health fieldwork, students complete 360 clinical hours of Dietetics Experiential Learning (NUTR 5387) in the spring semester of the program's second year. The clinical nutrition rotation is connected to a course led by a nutrition faculty member to mentor students during the final supervised learning experience.

In order to graduate, students must complete 48 hours of public health and dietetics courses and 1,000 hours of Supervised Experiential Learning. Students must complete these requirements within two years and eight months (150% of planned program length).