CHCS Student Handbook 2019-2020

Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences—Department of Physician Assistant 2019–2020 209 Clinical Rotations The clinical year of the program is devoted to hands-on training in clinical rotations. The clinical year consists of nine required rotations: six core rotations, one selective rotation, and two elective rotations. All core rotations must be completed in the state of Florida, primarily within 80–100 miles from NSU’s Fort Myers Campus. Each student should expect to complete at least one clinical rotation in a rural or underserved area. This will likely entail traveling beyond the 80–100 mile radius of Fort Myers. For core rotations assigned by the program outside of the 100-mile radius, housing will be provided for the students. During the clinical year, PA students will be required to document clinical experiences via a web-based program. Students may elect to print out hard copies of the tracking tables and hand write these clinical experiences for input into the web-based program at each day’s end, or they may elect to purchase a laptop or tablet device with wireless Internet connectivity and webcam capability. Students will be given training on using the tracking software during the advanced didactic semester. All PA students on clinical rotations must maintain a functional cell phone at all times during their clinical rotations. This expense will be the student’s responsibility. To facilitate communications, PA students must provide the PA program with their cell phone numbers and inform the program in advance of any changes. Students must comply with all policies and procedures of both the clinical sites and NSU. Orlando The Nova Southeastern University Physician Assistant Program at Orlando is fully accredited by the Accreditation Review Commission for Physician Assistant Education (ARC-PA) and is a member of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA). Dress Code Students in the NSU PA Program—Orlando are expected to comply with the dress code as outlined by the Dr. Pallavi Patel College of Health Care Sciences policy. In addition, students in the didactic phase of the curriculum will be required to wear a uniform for physical diagnosis lab and other laboratory exercises throughout the curriculum. This uniform will include a program-approved gray, short-sleeved T-shirt. No logo or writing should be on the back of the T-shirt. Pants must be navy blue gym-type shorts with an elastic waistband and drawstrings. All students must be prepared and able to remove their T-shirt for thoracic, cardiac, chest wall, and abdominal examinations. Therefore, female students must wear a sports bra beneath their T-shirt. Because of the nature of the exams, tank tops are not permitted in lieu of a sports bra. Athletic shoes and socks must be worn at all times in the lab, except as dictated by the instructor. Academic Promotions and Progression The progress of each student through the curriculum requires continuous, satisfactory academic and professional performance. No student may advance to the clinical year of study without satisfactorily completing all of the didactic year’s courses, demonstrating required clinical skills, and passing the end-of-year academic comprehensive examination.