Clinical Obligations

An important component of any Radiography Program is the clinical experience.  The clinical experience assists the student in transferring knowledge acquired in the classroom to practical application in the clinical setting.

SCF’s Radiography program practicum courses are designed to allow students to apply skills learned in the classroom and laboratory setting immediately in the clinical environment.  This is accomplished by scheduling first year radiography students in the hospitals and clinics on Tuesday and Thursday of each week.  During their second year, students are scheduled in the clinics on Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week.  In the Practicum III course, which is offered during the second summer semester of the program, students are scheduled in the hospitals and clinics 4 days a week.

During the program, students are rotated through several different health care facilities that are located within a 50 mile radius of the SCF Bradenton Campus.  Student clinical rotations are scheduled during the weekdays and can occur between the hours of 7:00 a.m. and 8:00 p.m. depending on the schedule of the facility.

Currently the program affiliates with the following hospitals and clinics:

Blake Medical Center
Children's Orthopedic and Scoliosis Surgery Associates (Tampa)
Coastal Orthopedics
Doctors Hospital of Sarasota
Lakewood Ranch Medical Center
Manatee Diagnostic Center
Manatee Memorial Hospital
Radiology Associates of Venice & Englewood
Sarasota Memorial Hospital-Venice
Southbay Hospital

SCF provides a group professional liability policy on all Nursing & Health Professions students and a separate limited accidental health policy for all Nursing & Health Professions students paid for by student fees. This policy is only effective for incidents which occur in classroom, laboratory, and at clinical sites.

Because these clinical sites are independent agencies, they have strict rules and regulations regarding students from any health science program rotating through their facility.  Therefore, background checks, current CPR certification, TB testing, appropriate vaccinations, and health and drug screenings are required by these agencies.  The student is advised that based on the results of these checks and screenings, prospective students may become ineligible for program admission.

Continuation in the program is based on acceptable results from random/ongoing screenings and background checks.  Clinical facilities may limit or prohibit students with positive drug screen results or criminal histories from participating in clinical experiences, thus making the student ineligible to continue in the program. Students are responsible for all fees incurred with these checks and screening.