(05/24/23) BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU students graduating in the dietetics concentration have once again achieved an exceptional feat, securing a 100% match rate to internships for the fourth consecutive year. A total of twenty-four LSU graduates will embark on internships at institutions across the nation.

Securing a position in an accredited internship serves as a crucial milestone for students aspiring to become registered dietitians, as a rigorous 1,000-hour supervised internship is a prerequisite. Nationwide, only approximately 70% of students successfully secure internships each year. Despite the odds, LSU dietetics students have consistently succeeded in internship placement.

The success of LSU students can be attributed to the comprehensive training and development they undergo within the dietetics concentration. This rigorous curriculum positions them as highly competitive applicants who are sought after by internship programs in the competitive field of dietetics.

Erin McKinley, the director of the Didactic Program in Dietetics at LSU, has been instrumental in shaping the program's success. With five years of dedicated leadership at LSU, McKinley has implemented an intensive curriculum that has consistently propelled students toward success.

“I am the most sentimental about this class of graduates as I met some when they were seniors in high school and have met a lot of their family members during their time here,” said McKinley. “This class experienced LSU pre-COVID, survived online and hybrid learning at the height of the pandemic, and set the standard on how to overcome adversity. I cannot wait to see where these graduates take the profession of nutrition and dietetics.”

As LSU's dietetics concentration continues to thrive and produce exceptional graduates, it is poised to maintain its status as a distinguished program in the realm of dietetics education.

For more information on the LSU dietetics program, contact Erin McKinley at emckinley@agcenter.lsu.edu.

Students and their placements include:

• Olivia Alvarado: Lafayette, La. - University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah
• Cameron Accardo: Prairieville, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Julia Brown: Destrehan, La. - Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
• Melanie Caillouet: New Orleans, La. - Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
• Emily Clark: New Orleans, La. - Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
• Rachel Domingue: Lafayette, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Nida Jaral: Houston, Texas - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Cassie (Pritchard) Curtis: Watson, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Colleen Brooke Riley: Baton Rouge, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Olivia Mire: Lafayette, La. - University of Alabama Birmingham, Birmingham, Ala.
• Sydney Hudson: Covington, La. - North Oaks Hospital System, Hammond, La.
• Raven Simmons: LaPlace, La. - Morrison Healthcare - New Orleans, New Orleans, La.
• Eloise Kiamco: New Orleans, La. - Tulane University, New Orleans, La.
• Evyn Yasinksi: Pearland, Texas - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Chloe Denman: Memphis, Tenn. - Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, S.C.
• Caroline Landry: Bayou Goula, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Paige Brown: Prairieville, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Karen Lapreyrouse: Geismar, La. - North Oaks Hospital System, Hammond, La.
• Chloie Coxe: Denham Springs, La. - Franciscan Missionaries of Our Lady (FranU), Baton Rouge, La.
• Catherine Seicshnaydre: Mandeville, La. - North Oaks Hospital System, Hammond, La.
• Meredith Wingerter: Mandeville, La. - North Oaks Hospital System, Hammond, La.
• Michael Henderson: Schenectady, N.Y. - Southern University, Baton Rouge, La.
• Krista (Mankopf) Wale (’19): Denham Springs, La. - Lagniappe Wellness Distance Dietetic Internship, Biloxi, Miss.
• Dominique Dortch (’15): Moreno Valley, Calif. - Morrison Healthcare - Alameda, Alameda, Calif.

Spring 2023 graduates and faculty in the School of Nutrition and Food Sciences. The School of Nutrition and Food Sciences houses the nutrition and food sciences major and dietetics concentration. Photo by Annabelle Lang/LSU College of Agriculture