Dietetics Administration: MDA
Department: Nutrition, Dietetics and Food Sciences Department
College: College of Agriculture and Applied Sciences
About This Degree
The Utah State University Master of Dietetics Administration (MDA) prepares students to lead and manage people and projects, setting them apart as they enter the workforce or in their current career field. The skills emphasized in the MDA program enhance management career options for graduates in clinical, community, food service, and entrepreneurial practice. Nationwide, there is a great need for professionally educated managers and leaders at the local, district, state, and federal levels. Students within the program will build skills in leadership, problem-solving, decision making, financial management, human resource management, business, and more. The hands-on curriculum delivered by faculty gives students the education they need to land the career they want. The program is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEND). The MDA program offers two tracks.
Track 1:
Pre-RD MDA: The Pre-RD track is for students who have completed undergraduate dietetics education but do not yet hold the Registered Dietitian credential. The pre-RD track provides a combination of coursework and supervised experiential learning to qualify to take the Registration Examination for dietitians (RD Exam).
For complete program information refer to mda.usu.edu
Track 2:
Post-RD MDA: The post-RD track is for students who already hold the Registered Dietitian credential and are interested in pursuing a graduate degree. For students that completed the USU dietetic internship (DI), 26 graduate credits earned in the USU DI are applied to the MDA if the MDA is completed prior to the credit expiration limit of 8 years. In addition, 12 MDA core credits are required and 6 elective credits for a total requirement of 42 credits.
The MDA is also available to credentialed dietitians from non-USU degree programs or for those whose DI credits have expired. For students not using credits from the USU DI, 33 credits are required. These include 12 MDA core credits and 21 elective credits, of which at least 9 credits should be from the NDFS department.
Locations
- Beaver
- Bicknell
- Blanding
- Brigham City
- Castle Dale
- Cedar City
- Delta
- Ephraim
- Heber City
- Junction
- Kanab
- Kaysville
- Moab
- Montezuma Creek
- Monticello
- Monument Valley
- Nephi
- Orem
- Panguitch
- Park City
- Price (USU Eastern)
- Richfield
- Roosevelt (Uintah Basin)
- Salt Lake
- St George
- Tooele
- Tremonton
- Vernal (Uintah Basin)
- Wendover
Location Restrictions
To view all degrees and programs available at USU, visit Degree Finder. Please note, not all degrees and programs are available at every location. We recommend searching by location unless you intend on relocating. Contact a Statewide Campuses advisor to verify program availability in your area.
View Potential Careers
Graduates with an MDA can work in the following areas:
- Child nutrition programs and school food service operations and management
- Managers in food service operations in hospitals and nursing homes
- Clinical nutritionists and clinical nutrition management
- Public health programs and state health departments
- Private practice
- Health care clinical including clinic management
- Outpatient counseling in eating disorders, diabetes management, bariatric surgery, dialysis, weight management, and other health care specialties
- Sports nutrition, corporate wellness, pharmaceutical and nutraceutical sales, and other food and nutrition-related businesses