This letter was sent to Dr. NAACLS via email. . .

Dear Dr. NAACLS,

I have several clinical sites that my students attend to complete their training. NAACLS tracks clinical affiliates, but not enrichment sites, and I wish to know whether my clinical sites are affiliates or enrichment sites. A student in my program may rotate through the chemistry practicum, but spend 10 days at Hospital X, and 5 days at Hospital Y, while spending the rest of the rotation at Hospital Z. Hospital Z is a clinical affiliate, but are Hospital X and Y?

Signed,

Unclear Educator

Dear Unclear,

You are correct that NAACLS no longer tracks enrichment sites, nor does NAACLS require affiliation agreements with enrichment sites. In order to protect your students, I encourage you to have signed and reviewed agreements with any institution your students may rotate through.

Your question is a complicated one. NAACLS defines a clinical affiliate as a site where the objectives for a required part of the curriculum are achieved, or any site where a student spends more than two weeks. In your particular situation, Hospital X and Hospital Y do not qualify as clinical affiliates under the second part of the definition, but may qualify under the first. If Hospital X and Hospital Y provide the students with educational experiences which are part of the required entry-level competencies for your program, then it must be listed as a clinical affiliate, and you must have a signed and reviewed affiliation agreement for the site.

The easiest way to assess the this is to imagine what the situation would be without the student rotation through the hospitals. If the student educational experience would fall short of the requirements of the Essentials or Standards, for developing entry-level competencies, the Hospital should be listed as a clinical affiliate. If the educational experience of students would not be impacted in terms of the development of entry-level competencies, than the site can be deemed an enrichment site.

NAACLS asks that programs make these determinations, but these will be assessed during the next accreditation/approval review. Please keep NAACLS informed of any changes in clinical affiliates so accurate program records can be maintained.

Sincerely,

Dr. NAACLS

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