March 4, 2024

Maddy Larkin, a student in Drexel University’s Master of Science in Human Nutrition program, was always interested in pursuing a career in health care, but it wasn’t until she focused on nutrition that she knew she’d found her specialty.

Larkin earned her undergraduate degree from Drexel in Humanistic Health, a custom-designed major comprising classes in biology, psychology, public health and criminology. After graduating in 2022, she started working in Camden, New Jersey, as part of a school district’s nutrition team.

“That’s where I learned that I really loved the field as I embraced community nutrition in Camden. I knew I wanted to go back and get my master’s degree to work in a more clinical setting in the future,” she said.

The year-long graduate program began in September 2023, and Larkin had much to praise, from its fast pace to the personalized attention to the curriculum itself:

“Last quarter, we laid the foundation, looking at macronutrients and food composition in broad strokes. This quarter, we’re getting more into what that means in practice—in a hospital setting, administering medical nutrition therapy, which I’m excited about. It’s getting more real,” she said.

But what Larkin likes best about the program is the faculty.

“We have a really strong faculty and they’re all uniquely qualified,” she said. “A few are PhD nutrition researchers, and we have others who are registered dietitian nutritionists who’ve spent much of their careers working clinically. Getting to learn from professors who have all of this real-world experience is awesome.”

Another strength of Drexel’s program—one that differentiates it from others—is its Partner Dietetic Internship program. It was one of the reasons Larkin chose Drexel.

Under the program, students no longer have to compete in the national internship match. Instead, they apply early to at least two of five elite internship programs that partner with Drexel, like Yale New Haven Hospital, University of Maryland Medical Center, Virginia Commonwealth University and Tulane University. Since its implementation in 2021, every applicant has matched with their top choice.

“We got to hop on a Zoom call and learn about the different programs from their directors, and then we sent in our applications and ranked our choices,” Larkin said, adding that the streamlined process was much less stressful since each student is guaranteed a match.

Stacey Senter, MS, RD, LDN, CNSC, CCTD, graduated from Drexel’s MS in Human Nutrition program in 2017, then a two-year program. She was thrilled to match for an internship at University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC) and believes Drexel gave her an edge.

Senter explained that Beth Leonberg, DHSC, RDN, CSP, FAND, LDN, director of Drexel’s Dietetics Education programs, well prepared students for the next step in their careers—from writing résumés to researching internship programs to volunteering in the community.

“Now that I’ve been in the nutrition field for a while and have met RDs from other programs, I’d say that level of preparation was definitely unusual,” Senter said.

Dietetic internships are a critical requirement for becoming a registered dietitian nutritionist (RDN). Senter said the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics mandates RDNs complete a minimum of 1,000 hours in supervised practice before taking the exam.

After completing her internship and passing her exam, Senter accepted a job at UMMC, working primarily with kidney, liver and pancreas transplant patients. She’s since earned additional certifications as a clinical transplant dietitian and a certified nutrition support clinician (an expert in tube and intravenous feedings).

In June 2023, Senter’s experience came full circle when she was promoted to director of UMMC’s dietetic internship program—one of the five that partners with Drexel. She divides her time between caring for transplant and GI patients in the surgical intensive care unit and running the internship program.

Senter said applicants from Drexel are certain to get an interview.

“We know that Drexel students are very motivated, driven, organized and able to thrive under pressure and use their time wisely. Those are all traits that we value highly and are necessary for success in our internship program.”

Those skills also helped Senter thrive in her career.

“Being a clinical dietitian and program director, much of my job involves wearing lots of different hats and knowing how to optimize my time. Drexel helped me with time management and making sure I was being as productive as possible, while giving me exposure to tons of different areas.”

She added, “I’ve achieved a lot of cool things in a short period of time as a dietitian, and I really think all of that began in grad school at Drexel.”

By Abby Schwartz