The Boston Children’s Hospital Pediatric Registered Dietitian (RD) Residency program is a paid six-month program designed to provide early career registered dietitians with the specialized training and professional development support needed to pursue a career as a pediatric clinical dietitian.

About Boston Children’s Clinical Nutrition Services

Boston Children’s Clinical Nutrition Services provides infants, children, adolescents, and young adults with individualized and comprehensive nutrition care. In addition to treating children from all over the country, we treat international children and young people from across the globe in our specialty units and clinics.

What you will accomplish here

The Pediatric RD Residency Program emphasizes the following objectives:

Nutritional screening and assessment

• Understand the unique nutritional needs of pediatric patients across different age groups.
• Learn effective methods for screening pediatric patients and conducting nutritional assessments, including use of:
  • Growth charts
  • Dietary analysis software
  • Anthropometric measurements

Pediatric medical conditions and nutritional interventions

• Gain knowledge of common pediatric medical conditions affecting nutrition, such as:
  • Prematurity
  • Food allergies
  • Diabetes
  • Gastrointestinal disorders
  • Feeding and growth difficulties
  • Malnutrition
• Learn evidence-based nutrition interventions to develop individualized nutritional care plans for pediatric patients with specific medical conditions.
  • Nutrition support
    • Gain proficiency in providing nutrition support for pediatric patients, including enteral and parenteral nutrition therapy.
    • Understand the indications, contraindications, and monitoring requirements for various forms of nutrition support in pediatric patients.
  • Infant and child feeding practices
    • Understand the principles of infant and child feeding, including:
      • Breastfeeding
      • Formula feeding
      • Introduction of complementary foods
      • Responsive feeding practices
    • Learn strategies for addressing common feeding challenges and promoting healthy eating behaviors in infants and children.
  • Nutrition counseling and education
    • Develop effective communication skills for counseling pediatric patients and their families on nutrition-related topics.
    • Learn how to tailor nutrition education materials and resources to meet the developmental needs of pediatric patients and their caregivers.

Cultural humility and family-centered care

• Recognize the importance of cultural humility and diversity in providing nutrition care to pediatric patients and families.
• Understand the principles of family centered care and engage in collaborative decision-making with pediatric patients and their caregivers.

Interprofessional collaboration

• Learn how to collaborate effectively with other healthcare professionals, including:
  • Physicians
  • Nurses
  • Speech-language pathologists (or feeding therapists)
  • Occupational therapists
• Participate in medical rounds, case discussions, and interdisciplinary team meetings to facilitate comprehensive care planning for pediatric patients.

Evidence-based practice and professional development

• Engage in the latest research and evidence-based guidelines related to pediatric nutrition and dietetics.
• Participate in ongoing professional development activities to enhance knowledge and skills in pediatric dietetics, such as:
  • Attending webinars
  • Journal club
  • Grand rounds

Quality improvement and evaluation

• Assess the effectiveness of nutrition interventions in pediatric populations.
• Participate in quality improvement initiatives.

Clinical training

Clinical training rotations are developed to provide a wide range of patient exposure while providing scaffolding for increasing patient care complexity. Rotations may include gastroenterology, oncology, medical/surgical units, neonatal intensive care, eating disorders, and specialized growth and feeding clinics.

The RD resident will be learning from and working alongside experienced registered dietitians, physicians, nurses, feeding specialists, and many more members of our interdisciplinary care teams.

Example schedule

Over the six-month residency period the RD will spend approximately two months inpatient, two months outpatient, and two months engaging in a tailored staff relief experience. In addition, the RD resident will participate in a variety of patient/family classes and shadowing experiences with members of our lactation team and our speech and language pathology team.

Sample schedule

• Month 1 and 2: Inpatient
  • General Pediatrics (two weeks)
  • Gastroenterology (two weeks)
  • Oncology/Bone Marrow Transplant (one week)
  • Medical/Surgical Floors (two weeks)
  • NICU (one week)
• Month 3 and 4: Outpatient
  • Growth and Nutrition (two weeks)
  • Eating Disorders (one week)
  • Pulmonary (one week)
  • Open Nutrition Clinic (two weeks)
  • Specialties Clinics (two weeks)
• Month 5 and 6: Inpatient Staff Relief

Professional development, quality improvement, and public speaking

In addition to clinical training, the RD resident will have the opportunity to earn continuing education credits through participation in a variety of educational events including:

• Gastroenterology medical rounds
• Journal clubs
• Monthly nutrition topics
• Education events sponsored by the Division of Nutrition at Harvard Medical School

The RD resident will have the chance to enhance their public speaking skills by presenting at Journal Club as well as presenting a case study of their choosing. Lastly, the RD resident will participate in a quality improvement project with the opportunity to share their findings with the Clinical Nutrition Department.

Prerequisites

Only registered dietitians with the Commission on Dietetic Registration are eligible for the RD Residency Program.

Note: RD credentialing is not required to apply but is required before the residency start date. All offers of acceptance are subject to recall should credentialing not be obtained by the start date.

How to apply

Interested candidates should send a resume and a cover letter detailing their interest in the RD Residency Program and how it aligns with their personal and professional goals to Erin Gordon, Nutrition Educator, at erin.gordon@childrens.harvard.edu.

Selected applicants will be asked to participate in an interview process (in person or virtual) and to provide references.

Important dates

The RD Residency Program starts in September and runs through February of the following year. Dates for the September 2024-February 2025 residency cycle:

• Application live March 12, 2024
• Application due April 15, 2024
• Interviews to be conducted at the end of April and beginning of May 2024
• Candidates will be notified of final application status no later than May 31, 2024
• Program to start early September 2024
• Program completion in late February 2025
• Graduates are eligible for consideration for open positions at Boston Children’s Hospital
  • Massachusetts licensure required