Lipscomb University recently announced a partnership to help produce new professionals in sports nutrition, a field that is rapidly outgrowing the current supply of internships nationwide.

For the past year, Lipscomb's Dietetic Internship Program and Lipscomb Athletics have provided real-world career experience for select dietetic interns who desire to work in the sports nutrition field. This partnership also makes Lipscomb the first private university in Tennessee to have the full-time services of a sports nutritionist on campus, according to the Collegiate & Professional Sports Dietitians Association.

In addition, as a result of this partnership, the DIP has received approval from the Accreditation Council for Education in Nutrition and Dietetics to expand the dietetic internship program at Lipscomb and provide six interns for the sports nutrition concentration during the 2017-18 year, said Anne Lowery, director of the DIP and associate professor in Lipscomb University's College of Pharmacy & Health Science. Lipscomb University hopes to be a model for other universities who want this competitive advantage and may not have considered untapped resources such as dietetic internships.

"This new partnership is pioneering a creative solution to offer sports dietitian services to Lipscomb athletes, while also providing a preceptor for sports nutrition interns who are within the College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences," said Lowery.

The development of the internship program and partnership has also led to other unique opportunities. This spring, sports nutrition interns will partner with graduate students from Lipscomb's Exercise and Nutrition Science program and a supplement supplier to conduct research on athlete body composition and probiotic use. During the 12-week study, the interns will help gather body composition data collection, analyze dietary recalls and distribute the supplement on a daily basis to the athletes participating in the study.