Clinical Experiences
The Clinical Experiences, both Part-time and Full-time, are integrated into the classroom experiences. Clinical sites are numerous and varied. The Clinical Experiences include:
- Integrated Clinical Experiences (ICE) – Part-time Clinical Experience during the academic semester. Year 1 -Summer, Year 2 – Fall and Spring.
- Full-time Clinical Experiences – 30 weeks total; Four rotations are interspersed throughout the program: Clinical Experience I – Winter semester of the 2nd Year, Experience II – late Fall semester of the 3rd Year, Experiences III and IV – Summer of the 3rd Year.
- Students are able to apply the knowledge and skills they have learned in the classroom to actual patient care by participating in part-time and full -time clinical experiences.
- Students rotate through a variety of clinical facilities including acute care hospitals, rehabilitation hospitals, outpatient centers, skilled nursing facilities, and schools. The UMES Department of Physical Therapy currently has contractual arrangements with over 175 health care facilities in areas primarily with the eastern region of the United State. Most of our clinical sites are heavily saturated in Maryland, Virginia, Delaware, and Washington D.C.
- Students are required to attain and maintain current criminal background checks through an approved agency. Specific types of fingerprinting and criminal background checks may be required by clinical facilities within specific timeframes. Clinical facilities may require the assigned student to submit his or her criminal background report for review by the facility as a security measure prior to a Clinical Experience.
- Students may be required to submit results of a laboratory drug screening (urinalysis) as required by specific clinical facilities prior to a Clinical Experience.
