Despite a long-standing appreciation for the importance of effective communication to facilitate health behavior change, many allied health professionals, including registered dietitians, receive only introductory training in advanced approaches, such as motivational interviewing (MI). This study evaluated the implementation and preliminary effects of a dietetics course that integrated intensive, competency-based MI training. Enrolled graduate dietetics students (n = 18) consented to participate in this pilot single-arm trial with pre-post data collection (i.e., survey and completion of real-play counseling sessions evaluated using the Motivational Interviewing Treatment Integrity Code [MITI]). Baseline MITI scores indicate participants were mostly unable to provide MI, though improvements were seen at post-course. Significant improvements were seen in MITI scores, MI knowledge, and MI-related confidence (all P<0.01).