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BSHSC - Field Experience

OVERVIEW

BSHSC - Field Experience

 

All information needed to be successful in completing the Field Experience is provided within this site. To avoid delaying degree progression, once referred to your Clinical Learning and Placement Support Coordinator please stay actively engaged in the placement process. Delays in communication and completing requirements runs the risk of pushing back your Field Experience start date.

In preparation for your Field Experience Hours you will:

  • Meet with your Program Mentor to discuss initiating placement process
  • Complete the requirements on your Field Experience Page
  • Work with your Coordinator and site throughout the placement process
  • Complete WGU Compliance and site-specific requirements
  • Obtain official clearance from your Coordinator

You want to have ample time to network in order to identify a potential preceptor and site. When establishing an Affiliation Agreement with your selected host site or renewing an old agreement, the process can take a significant amount of time. Additionally, gathering and uploading compliance records can take time and may require updating your immunizations.

Any delay in starting these steps can impact your degree progression, especially when you are at the end of term or nearing graduation.

  • Patient Advocate Organizations
  • Nursing Homes
  • Home Care and Hospice
  • Hospitals
  • Health Departments
  • State and Community Health Organizations
  • Mental Health Organizations
  • Healthcare Coordination and Counseling Organizations
  • Substance Abuse and other Social Programs
  • Department of Child and Family Services

Provide potential host site and contact information on the Pre-Placement Survey located on your Field Experience Page. Please be sure that the information on your Pre-Placement Survey is accurate and filled in completely.

What is a Placement Host Site? A health facility that is willing to accept WGU BSHSC students and enter into an Affiliation Agreement with WGU.  A few examples of possible sites are: Nursing Homes, Home Care and Hospice, State and Community Health Organizations, Hospitals, Health Departments, etc.

Students are welcome to utilize their place of employment as their host site. Your Coordinator will connect with the site and discuss the placement process and details.

Please be sure to review the resources provided to fully understand this placement process and the expectations you will be held to. To access this page click here.

Once you have identified a Site and Preceptor you will work with your Coordinator to secure placement.  Your Coordinator must be in direct contact with your placement site to move forward with this process. Your Coordinator will stay in regular contact with you throughout this process. Your communication with the site and your Coordinator during this placement are essential in moving this process forward.

Your placement may require site-specific placement approval or on-boarding.

This is a legal contract negotiation between WGU's legal team and the legal team at your selected site. This typically takes 2-3 months to fully execute, however, please be aware, it can take longer. Students will be notified once the Agreement is fully executed. Please review the Affiliation Agreement Process.

For full details please review WGU Standard Compliance Requirements.

Documentation of WGUs Compliance items are required for every student in the Leavitt School of Health. Even if a student is seeking placement with their employer, a Complio account is required, as employment status and the Field Experience are not interrelated.

Please feel free to review BSHSC Compliance FAQ for more information.

For compliance related questions, students should email the WGU Compliance Team with “Compliance Questions” in the subject line.

Once onboarding and compliance have been completed for both WGU and the site, an agreed upon start date will need to be reported to your Coordinator.

  • Clearance from your Clinical Learning and Placement Support Coordinator does not mean that you are cleared to start hours. It is up to you to work with your Program Mentor on your Degree Plan timeline to make sure you have all of your academic prerequisites completed before starting your Field Experience course and hours.
  • Your Program Mentor needs to approve your start date and help coordinate with your degree plan and Field Experience course timelines.
  • Students CANNOT engage in or log Field Experience hours until all of the placement steps are complete, they have received the Field Experience Placement Clearance email, and they have completed ALL BSHSC courses except Health Services Coordination Capstone - D064. Any hours started before completion of the requirements above will not be counted and will need to be redone.

 

Students should remember when they are at the worksite, they should function like a staff member and support others in their work, all the while maintaining professionalism and following WGU policies. Please dress professionally until you have learned dress code standards of the facility.

Finding a Placement Site and Preceptor

 

BSHSC students must identify a placement site and preceptor who are willing to support them in a variety of Health Service Coordination related duties and tasks. As a University that serves students nationally, we do not have a list of sites or preceptors for students' to choose from. It is the students responsibility to secure their own placement.

The benefit of identifying your own preceptor is it fosters the networking skills critical to your success in the Field Experience activities. Working with a site and preceptor who is personally invested in your success provides a richer experience in the course and assures preceptor availability at a time and geographic location most suitable to the your needs. 

The preceptor serves as a mentor for the student to complete their total required hours specific to their Health Services Coordination degree. Preceptors must be employed in a patient focused job role.

  • Patient Advocate Organizations
  • Nursing Homes
  • Home Care and Hospice
  • Hospitals
  • Health Departments
  • State and Community Health Organizations
  • Mental Health Organizations
  • Healthcare Coordination and Counseling Organizations
  • Substance Abuse and other Social Programs
  • Department of Child and Family Services

Connecting with people and professionals in your circle is a great way to secure your placement with someone who is invested in your success.

Meeting face-to-face with potential sites and presenting a copy of your resume allows you to make a good first impression.

Cold calling provides a great opportunity to introduce yourself, discuss your need for placement, and overall goals for your degree.

While it can be difficult to find a placement site, there are some additional opportunities to explore. Some of those could include volunteer opportunities, expanding your search to neighboring cities, towns, counties etc., and being willing to explore different departments such as Patient Care Coordinator, Health Services Coordinator, Patient Advocate, Community Health Worker, Community Health Specialist, etc.

If you are still experiencing difficulty finding a site your Coordinate can help brainstorm further options.

Who qualifies as a preceptor:

  • Someone employed in a patient focused role

  • Someone who can give exposure to Health Services Coordination, so students can prove they are competent in these main areas (Please see BSHSC Field Experience Summary for more details):

    • Interventions

    • Case Management Skills

    • Regulatory and Compliance Principles

    • Professionalism

    • Education

    • Communication

    • Transition of Care

  • Cannot be students' direct supervisor, manager, etc.

Introduction to Your Placement Process

 

Once you have completed the Field Experience requirements and reviewed this landing page, your Coordinator will begin outreach to your 1st choice site.

PLEASE NOTE: WGU Compliance is required for all students regardless of where you are placed or how your placement will be completed. Additional onboarding and compliance items may be required by your host site.

As long as the placement steps are complete, we are flexible on when students can start their hours and typically let the student and site coordinate a start date and schedule that works best for them. There are several steps in the placement process; on average we see that this process takes 4-6 months to complete from the initial contact with your intended placement site.

Regular communication with your Coordinator is required and essential to avoiding delays in your degree progression. In general you will hear from your Coordinator once a month at a minimum; please make sure to respond to or acknowledge receipt of communication, as this is vital to keep the placement process moving forward.

In addition to communicating regularly with your Coordinator, we ask that you maintain regular contact with your placement site and will have you follow up on your end if we are not successful connecting with your site.

BSHSC students must identify a placement site and preceptor who are willing to support them in a variety of Health Service Coordination related duties and tasks.

Who qualifies as a preceptor:

  • Someone in healthcare who can give you exposure to Health Services Coordination
  • Must be someone in a patient focused role

WGU is flexible on where our students complete their hours. If you choose to be placed with your employer, please understand that it needs to be in a position outside of your current job role and your preceptor cannot be your direct supervisor. Please also note that students may not perform placement activities during their scheduled working hours.

Students are welcome to complete their Field Experience onsite or remotely with a site they have secured. However, please keep in mind that the placement process remains the same whether you are placed onsite or remote and all students will be required to complete the compliance requirements in full.

The goal of this Field Experience is to gain experience from someone in a patient focused role that can help the student meet the competencies of the course. Students will be expected to stay actively engaged with their preceptor throughout the whole Field Experience.

WGU's standard compliance requirements include:

  • Background Check

  • Provide proof of the following:

    • MMR

    • TDAP

    • Varicella

    • Influenza (October- March)

    • Hepatitis B

    • Two steps TB test completed within the last year

    • Health Insurance

NOTE: WGU Compliance is required for all students regardless of where you are placed or how your placement will be completed. Additional onboarding and compliance items may be required by your host site. Additional compliance items may include: drug screens, fingerprints, physician office visits, titer screenings, immunizations, physical exams, eye exams, and any additional items required by the health facility. All fees associated with compliance and site onboarding are the Student’s responsibility and are nonrefundable, out-of-pocket expenses.

 

Affiliation Agreement Process

 

Once your intended placement site has been identified your Coordinator will connect with the site and discuss next steps. WGUs Legal team will assist in establishing an Affiliation Agreements with any site a student selects.

NOTE: An Affiliation Agreement is a legal contract negotiation between WGU's legal team and the legal team at your selected site. This can take 2-3 months to fully execute. Students will be notified once the Agreement is fully executed.

To establish an Affiliation Agreement, students’ must obtain the contact information for the Contract Administrator at their selected host site and provide that information to their Coordinator.

  • Host Site Name
  • Host Site Address
  • Contract Administrator Name
  • Contract Administrator Email Address
  • Contract Administrator Phone Number

The Contract Administrator is the person with authority to sign an Affiliation Agreement on behalf of the selected facility.

WGU Standard Compliance Requirements

 

WGUs compliance items will expire and purchasing your compliance package early may result in additional fees if your placement begins after the expiration date. Do not send any personal health records to WGU. We cannot accept, view, or store personal health information in accordance with HIPAA regulations. For compliance questions, students should email us with “Compliance Questions” in the subject line of the email.

Compliance Steps

1. Create or Update your Complio/American Databank Account.

If you created the account during enrollment, you likely used a personal email address as your login. Click the button below to access ADB/Complio using your WGU login.

2. Utilize the shopping cart in the top right of your Complio account to:

  • Place an Order
  • Select Program - BSHI/M and BSHSC
  • Select Your State of Residence - All Locations
  • Click on Load Packages
  • Purchase the following packages:
    • Immunization Package: BSHIM and BSHSC Package
    • Criminal Background Check ($52.00) - Your Background check expires after two years and must be current at the time of your Professional Practice Experience placement

There is a student-incurred fee for all packages.

3. Upload proof of vaccination or proof of immunity (positive antibody titer) as well as a negative tuberculosis test.

  • MMR
  • TDAP 
  • Varicella 
  • Influenza (Required October-March) 
  • Hepatitis B

Titer results for the above pathogens must be positive. A negative result will require additional boosters doses. Verification of immunity to communicable diseases may include documentation of vaccinations and/or serologic evidence of immunity via IgG antibody titer screenings.

  • Tuberculosis

Verification of immunity against Mychobacterium tuberculosis requires a negative skin tests, blood test or chest x-ray.

Use this form as a reference on what is needed to complete each compliance item. WGU Compliance Form_BSHSC

Immunization records must have:

  • Patient full name
  • Date of test or vaccine
  • Test results
  • Facility or physician office where completed

We cannot accept handwritten immunization records/cards.

Documentation of immunity to communicable diseases and screening for tuberculosis is required for all BSHSC students. Even if a student is seeking placement with their employer, an American DataBank account is required, as employment status and your Field Experience are not interrelated.

4. Upload Health Insurance

Proof of Health Insurance - front & back required.

5. Send "Not Compliant to Compliant" email to CLPSCompliance@wgu.edu.

Forward the Notification of Status Change: Not Compliant to Compliant email that you will receive from American DataBank once your account is fully compliant. This email will come to the address you used to create your account.  Please be sure to check your spam/ junk boxes. The address you will forward this email to is CLPSCompliance@wgu.edu.

If your host site has compliance or on-boarding requirements, there may be an additional fee through American DataBank. If additional items for your placement site are required, your Clinical Learning and Placement Support Coordinator will notify you.

If you need assistance within the American Databank - Complio Account, please check the video links below for frequently asked questions.

BSHSC Compliance FAQ

The compliance items are required for WGU to meet the legal liability for your placement within a healthcare setting. The compliance requirements help to reduce communicable diseases in the healthcare setting, ultimately keeping you, patients, and healthcare workers safe during your Field Experience placement.

Yes, you will need to complete the compliance requirements. You are not considered an employee during your field placement, even if you are employed at the same site. Your employment status and your Field Experience are not interconnected.

Yes, there are fees associated with the purchase of compliance items (i.e. immunizations and background check). Please note, additional compliance items required by your placement site may incur additional fees. Specific costs can be found on American DataBank's site.

Compliance will need to be completed prior to receiving a clearance email from the Clinical Learning and Placement Support team. You must be cleared by your Coordinator before you can begin working on your Field Experience hours.

No, please do not send any personal health records to your Coordinator, as WGU cannot accept or store personal health information in accordance to HIPAA regulations. All compliance documentation must be submitted to your account with American DataBank.

Yes, a background through our third-party vendor American DataBank is required to meet the legal liability for your placement.

You will need to order a drug screening through American DataBank. Once the order is complete, you will receive an email with details on where to go to provide your sample to complete this requirement.

Yes, there is a specific form that needs to be filled out. You will be provided the form once you start the compliance process. Once the form has been completed by your Physician you will upload it to your American DataBank account.

Your employer may not require an up-to-date TB screening for your employment, however, your employment status and your Field Experience are not interconnected. Therefore, to complete the compliance requirements, you will need to show proof of a current TB screening.

Unfortunately, WGU cannot assist you with logging into your compliance account through American DataBank. To reset your password or to obtain your login credentials, please contact the American DataBank help line at (800) 200-0853.

Yes, the compliance items are required for all students as this allows WGU to meet the legal liability for your placement with a healthcare facility.

BSHSC Field Experience Documents:

BSHSC Frequently Asked Questions

You will have a Clinical Learning and Placement Support Coordinator assigned to you to initiate your Field Experience placement process. This individual will help you with your responsibilities to secure a placement site and complete your placement requirements.

Yes, you are welcome to complete your Field Experience at your place of employment as long as it is healthcare related. However, you will need to find placement outside of your current job role/department with someone other than your direct Manager.

Yes, when looking for a placement site you will also need to identify a Preceptor willing to accommodate your placement.

Once you have been cleared to start your hours, you will be provided a Time Log to track your hours. Your Preceptor will need to sign off at the end of your hours.

As a University that serves students nationally, we do not have a list of sites or preceptors for students to choose from. It is the student's responsibility to secure their own placement. The benefit of identifying their own preceptor is it fosters the networking skills critical to their success in the Field Experience activities. Your Coordinator is here to assist you if you have difficulty.

While WGU understands the difficulty that this new commitment can bring, it is important to your Education and future success to be able to complete the Field Experience. Some things we recommend are to talk early and often with current employer about rearranging your schedule or using PTO days. WGU is flexible on how and when you can complete your hours and will ask you to coordinate a schedule that works best for you and your placement site.

You are welcome to complete this as a paid internship, however, WGU cannot be involved in the details of that piece of placement at all. This is something that you would need to discuss/coordinate directly with the placement site.

While it can be difficult to find a placement site, there are some additional opportunities to explore. Some of those could include smaller facilities around your area, expanding your search to neighboring cities, towns, counties etc., and being willing to explore different departments such as HR, Student Services, Volunteering, HIM, IT, Billing, Quality, Medical Records, etc.

If you are still experiencing difficulty finding a site your Coordinate can help brainstorm further options.

The process can vary depending on the facility we are working with, however, we ask that students allow at least 4-6 months to complete this process.

No, compliance and onboarding will be an out-of-pocket expense. All BSHSC students are required to complete WGU standard compliance requirements. In addition to these requirements, your facility may have their own onboarding process which may come with additional expenses.

Have questions? Send an email to:
CLPSBSHSC@wgu.edu

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