OHSU

Community Outreach

 cooking lunch for homeless shelter

Community Outreach

Faculty and students of the Graduate Programs in Human Nutrition participate in a variety of food and nutrition programs and events in the Portland metropolitan area, and throughout the state, and in regional and international locations.  Outreach opportunities include providing nutrition education classes to the general public and patients with chronic diseases; participating in health fairs and conferences; and helping underserved and disadvantaged groups through service learning experiences. 

 

Area of Concentration

The area of concentration in the OHSU Dietetic Internship Program is Community Outreach as it is a fundamental component of the mission and vision of OHSU, as well as program goals of the Dietetic Internship Program.  Our concentration in Community Outreach builds upon several of ACEND's required Professional Practice competencies,as well as the following concentration-specific competencies:

1.) Identify a specific community need(s) involving food and nutrition; set the goals and objectives; and integrate all required parties to carry out the project or activity.

2.) Execute and then assess the effectiveness and impact of the community-focused project or activity.

 

These learning objectives are incorporated throughout the Dietetic Internship curriculum, beginning with project planning during fall quarter and continuing through spring quarter with project implementation and evaluation.  Each intern selects a community outreach project related to food or nutrition that is of personal interest, writes a project proposal, and independently carries out the project.

 

Some recent example of interns' community outreach projects are:

  • Increasing participation in school meal programs, and awareness of free and reduced-price meal availability in Medford, Oregon
  • Educating middle school students and their parents about sugar-sweetened beverages and healthier options
  • Assisting Portland area schools to create school gardens and garden-enhanced learning opportunities
  • Providing nutrition education for blood glucose control to home-delivered meal recipients in Southern Oregon