Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics

Clinical Education

Placement

Student enrolled in both the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics (BLD) program and the Medical Laboratory Science (MLS) program receive both didactic instruction and practical experience at an affiliated hospital laboratory. For BLD students, this occurs during the senior year (the second year of the professional curriculum).

Upon acceptance into either program, a clinical affiliate placement is guaranteed; however, the clinical affiliate assignment to a specific site location is not. Students who are assigned to off-campus sites will relocate to those sites during the semester in question; for BLD students, this occurs during the final semester of the senior year. Students are responsible for their own housing and transportation.

Affiliated hospital laboratories currently include, but are not limited to:

Clinical Education Requirements

Prior to completing internships or other clinical activities involving direct patient care, students enrolled in the School of Medicine must comply with certain insurance, health, and immunization requirements. These vary by program; current information for BLD and MLS students is provided below.

Questions? Contact Kayla Poling, Assistant Director of Clinical Education. 

General Requirements

Prior to beginning the professional program, it is the student's responsibility to provide updated information on immunizations, health insurance coverage, and PPD results, in addition to the other requirements listed below. Students whose documentation is incomplete will not be allowed to participate in clinical education rotations. Disciplinary sanctions such as probation may be considered for students whose documentation is incomplete.

All BLD and MLS students are required to set up a secure account in MyRecordTracker, the background screening and medical document management company utilized by the program. All health and immunization documentation should be uploaded to this account. Before a student begins a clinical rotation, the academic program must verify to the clinical site that the student has complied with the health requirements. Some sites may request additional documentation, including but not limited to copies of immunization cards or lab reports. In this case, the student will be notified and will be required to furnish the clinic with the appropriate records.

Drug Screening

Students may be required by their assigned clinical site to complete a drug/alcohol screen. Students who test positive for any drugs of abuse will not be allowed to begin the clinical rotation.

Health Insurance

Health insurance is required of all students who matriculate at West Virginia University. If you do not have health insurance through your parents, spouse, or personal policy, you will be billed for insurance through the University. Additional information, including on how to waive enrollment in the WVU student insurance plan, may be found via the Student Insurance Office website. All students must provide documentation of health insurance annually.

Immunizations and Titers

All students who utilize teaching hospitals at the West Virginia University Health Sciences Center or any other hospital or clinic must be immunized and provide verification of immunizations. This requirement has been mandated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and the Biomedical Laboratory Diagnostics and Medical Laboratory Science programs follow CDC guidelines for healthcare providers.

All students must have the following immunizations and titers prior to starting the professional program. Students will be put on program probation if the listed requirements are not satisfactorily met (i.e., submitted into MyRecordTracker, reviewed, and approved) by the last day of final exams of the first semester in the program. Students who have not completed the listed immunizations and titers will not be permitted to begin clinical rotations.

  1. Hepatitis B:
    • Shots: 3 dose series IM (0, 1, and 6 mos.)
    • Titer: IgG anti-HBs 1-2 mos. after dose #3
      (If the Hepatitis series is not complete before matriculation, the student must have at least the first shot. The entire series and titer must be completed no later than December 1 of the first professional year for BLD students and no later than May 1 of the first semester for MLS students.)
  2. Measles, Mumps, Rubella (MMR)
    • Shots: 2 doses, 4 weeks apart (if born later than 1957)
    • Titer: IgG titer 1-2 mos. after last shot
  3. Varicella:
    • Shots: 2 doses, 28 days or more apart (if non-immune titer or no prior infection)
    • Titer: IgG titer 1-2 mos. after last shot
  4. Tetanus booster: Required within the past 10 years.
  5. PPD: one-step TB skin test or QuantiFERON TB Gold test within 6 months of starting the Program and annually thereafter. Students who have a positive result must submit physician clearance documented on letterhead.
  6. Poliomyelitis: All students must complete the primary series and booster (age 4-6) for polio.
  7. Meningococcus: WVU requires all students to have this vaccination.
  8. For non-immune titers:
    • Hepatitis: Required to restart the series.
    • MMR: Administer a third MMR shot, no repeat titer required.
    • Varicella: Administer two vaccines and repeat titer.

Criminal Background Check

Progress and achievement of the degree includes satisfactory completion of the clinical education component of the curriculum. A majority of clinical sites now require students to complete a criminal background check prior to participating in clinical education placements. Therefore, students with unacceptable criminal backgrounds may not be able to meet the academic standards of the BLD and MLS programs. Students will be put on probation if the criminal background check is not completed by the last day of final exams of the first semester in the program. Detailed information on completing the background check is available online. 

HIPAA Training

All students are required to complete training for awareness and compliance with the patient privacy regulations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). This training must be completed by the date established by the program. This training is located on SOLE. Students who do not complete HIPAA training during the semester in which it is required will not be enrolled for professional courses during the following semester.

OSHA Training

All students must be trained in standards for preventing transmission of blood borne and other infectious agents. This training will occur during the first semester of the professional curriculum and annually thereafter. Training is to be completed by the date established by the program. This training is located on SOLE. Students who have not completed this requirement will not be permitted to register for PALM courses during the following semester.

Contact

Questions concerning these health requirements can be sent to Office of the Vice Dean for Health Professions, West Virginia University School of Medicine, PO Box 9225, Morgantown, WV 26506-9225, or by calling 304-293-1320.