Students who accepted their offer of admission from Penn State will be contacted in May by the Program Coordinator about scheduling a radiologic science program orientation session.  During this session, the below items will be further discussed, along with program requirements, policies, and procedures.

Pre-clinical requirements

During the summer before entering the program, each student must complete two clinical visitations at program clinical sites. One clinical visit must be at the Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. The student can choose which second hospital to visit among these sites:

Clinical site requirements

  • Abuse clearances
  • Criminal background checks
  • Fingerprints
  • Medical tests (physical exam, TB test)
  • Vaccinations - some clinical sites are requiring that students are fully vaccinated against COVID-19
  • Drug testing
  • Health insurance
  • Liability insurance
  • Complete CPR certification - Basic Life Support for the Healthcare Provider administered by the American Heart Association (only).  Students must maintain certification while in the program.

Students must complete these and any other requirements in order to participate in clinical. Students must purchase the package for student records management through Castlebranch. The cost of the Castlebranch profile is approximately $125 and remains the student's profile for life. The student is responsible for the cost of all clinical requirements. There are fees for clearances, background checks and fingerprints. The costs for medical tests, vaccinations, and drug tests vary. Many of the requirements above are completed one time while the student is in the program.  Annual requirements include influenza vaccination, TB screen, and liability insurance through HPSO ($40/year).

Clinical sites reserve the right to turn students away if they don’t complete or pass the requirements. If a student is turned away from a clinical site, this would prevent them from completing the clinical component, and they would have to return to the program the following year.    

Students complete placements at two clinical sites while in the program. Each student goes to Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center for one year and another clinical site for the other year. The student is responsible for completing clinical site requirements for each site. Students change clinical sites after completing three semesters. Students are responsible for travel to and from clinicals and the costs associated with travel. Most clinical sites have outpatient centers that the students have to travel to for clinical rotations. Clinical hours are typically 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. During the last semester of the program, all students complete one week of evening shifts and one week of midnight shifts at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. 

Other requirements

  • Purchase at least two sets of personalized lead markers
  • Purchase uniforms for clinicals
  • Purchase textbooks
  • Other items may need to be purchased, and clinical sites may add requirements at any time