18 Clinical Course Schedules

The Radiologic Sciences clinical faculty determines appropriate clinical experience assignments for each student radiographer.  Students are assigned to a “base” hospital in their first two semesters (R151, R171). As a second-year student, the assigned base hospital will change each semester (R270, R271, R272).  In addition, all students will rotate to Riley Hospital for Children and other offsite hospitals/clinics for six weeks at some point in the program.

Students receive their first clinical assignment for the program’s first semester during new student orientation. Weekly assignment schedules and future semester schedules will be emailed to the students two to four weeks before the start of the semester and posted in the Canvas Clinical Course.  Clinical schedules are subject to change at any time during the program.  If a change is made, the students and preceptors will receive new clinical schedules.

Students are responsible for all clinical areas as assigned by the RISP faculty and are not allowed to alter posted schedules.  A student who wants to request a change in a posted schedule must submit the request in writing, via email, to the Clinical Coordinator at least one week before the date that the change would be effective.  The student will be notified at least two days before the date if the request has been approved or denied.

Student radiographers are expected to participate in all duties within the scope of a practicing radiographer. Students will accompany and assist supervising radiographers on all radiology-related assignments outside the Radiology Department, such as bedside portable work and operating room radiography.

Hours and Rotations

Clinical course hours for weekday assignments are 8:00 am-3:30 pm but vary by hospital and area within the radiology department.  Clinical assignments in some areas may begin as early as 6:00 a.m.  A clinic day is 7 hours, not including lunch. A half clinic day is 3.5 hours. A 30-minute lunch break is assigned at each hospital to coincide with the flow of patients.  Clinical hours for all hospitals and rotations can be found on the rotation schedule handed out by each clinical preceptor.

Students in the first year of the radiography program attend clinic on Tuesday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. First-year students will also be assigned Saturday rotations. First-year students will rotate through the following areas in the radiology department: orthopedics, fluoroscopy, surgery, and portables.  In addition, students will be assigned a half-day rotation in Nuclear Medicine (NM), Radiation Therapy (RT), Computed Tomography (CT), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), Ultrasound (US), Mammography (M), Cardiac Interventional/Cardiac Vascular Catheterization Lab (CI/CV), or Vascular Interventional Radiology (VI) to observe these areas.  Near the end of their first year, students will select two modalities that they would like as rotations during their 2nd year in the program. All students will do a minimum of a one week rotation in CT during at some point in their 2nd year.

Students in the second year of the radiography program attend clinic on Monday, Wednesday and Friday during the fall and spring semesters.  During the full 12 week summer session, second-year students attend clinic Monday through Thursday with Friday off.  Second-year students will rotate through all areas of the radiology department.                      

Saturdays: Students should check the Saturday rotation hours listed on their clinical schedule; not all are 8 am-3:30 pm. Students will do their normal Tuesday / Thursday rotations followed by the special Saturday rotation for a total of three full days in clinic on such weeks.

Evenings: Clinic hours for the evening rotation are 3:00 pm-10:00 pm. If a hospital or clinic requires different evening hours, the preceptor will inform the students at the start of the semester.

Due to the varied workdays and shifts required in the A.S. Radiography Program, there are no opportunities for changes to published course schedules.  For 22 months, students will be assigned day shifts, evening shifts and/or Saturday hours.  Students who have not completed courses to satisfy A.S. Radiography graduation requirements or prerequisite courses for Nuclear Medicine, Medical Imaging Technology or Radiation Therapy B.S. degrees may need to take online courses or wait until they have completed the Radiography program in order to satisfy those requirements.