Clinical Sites

Clinical sites are provided for admitted students. A prospective student can propose a new clinical site by contacting the program director. The process can be lengthy, therefore students should contact the director well in advance of the application deadline. **Requests for new clinical sites have to be submitted by February 1^st. All affiliation agreements have to be completed by July 1^st in order for a student to start the program in the Fall.**

A list of GVSU's clinical sites can be found on the JRCERT website (Do NOT contact the clinical sites. Each year we ask the site if they are able to take a student for the following year). Please note many clinical sites listed are not available each year. During the admissions process, you will be given an opportunity to request specific locations/sites. If you have questions about a specific clinical site that is on the JRCERT website, please contact Kristen Vu. If relocation is not feasible or if you have a preference to remain in a particular area, securing a clinical placement (that is not already affiliated with GVSU) that will accept you as a student is the most effective strategy to ensure continued residency in that geographic location.

During the application process, applicants will fill out a survey with their preferred clinical site information, but the ultimate decision for clinical placement will be nondiscriminatory and at the discretion of the Program Director and Clinical Coordinator. Factors reviewed for placements are applicant ranking, applicant preference, clinical site preference and knowledge of the clinical site. At the time applicants are accepted into the program, the assigned clinical site is listed on the offer letter.

Clinical Experience

The GVSU M.S. in Medical Dosimetry will operate with traditional face-to-face clinical education courses that will total 1,280 contact hours in an operating clinical environment. All didactic courses will operate in an online format. Lab courses will require students to obtain access to the university's medical dosimetry computerized treatment planning system lab from their home and/or clinical site. 

Students will experience clinical education that assures a diverse range of cases while working with a variety of qualified dosimetrists, physicists, physicians, and administrative and support staff.

All students enrolled in these graduate courses will be mature students expected to exhibit professional behaviors consistent with the practice of medical dosimetry. The current clinical education plan is tentatively set as follows:

• Aug - Dec -14 weeks x 4 days per week x 8 hrs per day = 448 clinical contact hours (56 days)
• Jan - April - 14 weeks x 4 days per week x 8 hrs per day = 448 clinical contact hours (56 days)
• May - Aug - 12 weeks x 4 days per week x 8 hrs per day =  384 clinical contact hours (48 days)
• Aug - Dec - additional available time for students who have not completed all mandatory competencies or who require clinical support for theses/projects
• Total = 1280 clinical contact hours (160 days or ~8 months of full time experience)

Additional clinical education may be required if all mandatory competencies are not achieved in these three courses. This determination will be made by the university program educational coordinator in conjunction with the clinical education site clinical instructor. 

Clinical Schedule

Students will be required to negotiate a written schedule of the exact days that are acceptable to the clinical site. This document must be signed by the clinical instructor at the clinical education site and must total the correct number of scheduled clinical contact hours for the specific course before students may enroll in the course. Any changes must be approved by both clinical instructor and student and submitted to the university program director prior to their occurrence. The 4 day per week schedules allow both students and clinical sites time for additional activities (i.e., clinical site downtime, student attendance at professional meetings, etc.). Specific scheduling requirements can be found in the Student Handbook.

Remote Clinical Education

The following is the GVSU remote clinical education policy for two types of remote clinical education. The full policy can be found here.

1. Student is not physically in the clinic
   1. Only if all dosimetry staff (instructors) are working remotely, up to 50% of the student’s clinical week may be done outside of the clinical setting. This will be calculated per week, so that the overall clinical hours will not exceed 50% remote.
      1. If there is staff in the office and able to train the students, then remote clinical education will not be allowed and the student will be required to attend clinic onsite.
   2. Exceptions: COVID related reasons (case by case as approved by the program)
   3. Remote learning is not to be used for normal illness, childcare, pregnancy, travel issues, moving, etc

2. Student is physically in the clinic, but the primary instructor (e.g. dosimetrist) is remote:
   1. As long as there is other staff readily available (e.g. physicist) that have the necessary treatment planning skills, this type of remote learning is allowed up to 100%.