Congratulations!  By successfully completing a rigorous 16-months of study during the didactic phase, you are now ready to embark on the next step in your training.  The next year will be both extraordinarily challenging and profoundly rewarding. Your medical knowledge and clinical skills will be tested daily. Personal inconveniences and sacrifices are going to be unavoidable.  But there will also be times of great accomplishment and satisfaction. In the end, you will have experienced substantial personal and professional growth and will have finally realized the goal you have worked so hard to achieve. Learning experiences can and do exist under all circumstances! Take full advantage of them.

The purpose of this handbook is to explain how the clinical phase of the program differs from the didactic phase. It is in addition to, not a replacement of, the Program Policy Manual. All program policies remain in effect. This handbook also does not replace the university or department level policies or the university catalog. In addition, the course syllabi for all clinical rotation courses are found in this manual. 

Prior to beginning your first supervised clinical practice experience (SCPE), you must have:

1. successfully completed all didactic course work
2. successfully completed all clinical skills workshops
3. BLS and ACLS certification
4. submitted the Health History form to the University Health Center along with an update of all required immunizations and testing (MMR, Td, varicella, Hepatitis B, COVID)
5. TB testing* within past 6-12 months. (*TB testing must be repeated every 12 months by PA program policy.  Some sites may require more frequent testing.)
6. completed all required drug screens with negative results
7. completed all required criminal and sexual offender checks in accord with program policy
8. reviewed all clinical orientation materials/policies and completed any additional required clinical tests (i.e., respirator fit testing) 

Some rotation sites may want documentation of the above for their own files.  The immunization documents you provided are kept at the University Health Center.  We can release this information to clinical sites provided you have signed a written ‘Release of Information’ form giving us permission to do so.  However, neither the University Health Center nor the PA Program is responsible for keeping your medical records up-to-date.  If at any time your compliance with the above cannot be verified, you will be removed from your SCPE until you can prove compliance.

Download the Clinical Phase Handbook (MS Word)