An online master’s degree opened research and training opportunities for Kaylah Qassis in the D.C. area
Kaylah Qassis knew what she wanted to do after earning her bachelor’s degree in the human nutrition, food, and exercise program at Virginia Tech in 2022: become a licensed dietitian at a medical center.
The big question for her was what route to take to reach her goal. She found the perfect path pursuing the online Master of Agriculture and Life Sciences through the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences while she took on an internship at a nearby medical center. Best of all, she could live at home in Maryland and use Virginia Tech’s new academic building in Alexandria as her education home base while furthering her education and training.
“This is a good opportunity to live at home for a little bit, do my degree, and do my internship at the same time, rather than doing my degree first and then my internship after,” she said.
Helping veterans
Her internship is at a site with clients that include military veterans, and one of her rotations was with the center’s eating disorders treatment team. That field was of particular interest to her, and she learned that veterans are at risk for developing eating disorders but are rarely diagnosed with them.
“Just because of the nature of being in the service and all of those kinds of things that go into that, a lot of military veterans don't get the help that they need,” she said. Qassis and the eating disorders team developed training to help dietitians “as the first line of defense in getting veterans to seek treatment.”
Qassis credits her internship directors, Amy LaFalce, director of internships in nutrition and dietetics, and Emily Myers, assistant dietetic internship director in the nutrition and dietetics program, with providing support for her research, along with her preceptors at the medical center.
Sharing her work
During the 2025 Graduate Education Week Research Showcase at the new academic building in Alexandria, Qassis presented a poster about her work that drew a steady stream of visitors.
“It was a very interesting experience and nothing that I've ever really done before, but it was cool to get to talk to people about this,” she said. “It's not a super talked about topic, so I think it was really interesting to hear people's thoughts and a little bit of their confusion of like, ‘Oh, I didn't even realize that that was a thing.’” She later presented her poster at the Virginia Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Conference.
Fun and support in the D.C. area
When she is not working on her degree, research, and internship, Qassis said she likes spending time with her dog and her friends and likes cooking and going on walks when the weather is nice. She also loves sports like baseball and football. “I go to a lot of the Nationals games and during football season, the Commanders games.”
Qassis will complete her internship in May and plans to graduate with her master’s degree in August. She plans to take her licensing exam as soon as she graduates.
In the meantime, she is at the new academic building at least once a week. She usually drives to the building, but said there is a Metro stop near her home that she takes sometimes. “I love the building. It's a really cool spot to being right next to D.C.,” she said. “Every time I come up there and have an opportunity to work, it's a lot of fun. It's a very supportive environment.”
