Curriculum

The Radiography Program is no longer accepting applications for 2013. Please check this website in August for information regarding 2014 enrollment. 

Curriculum

During each session, students will study various subjects in addition to completing hands-on clinical courses. The summer session is an intensive clinical semester. The program’s curriculum is challenging and equally balanced between technical courses (requiring an adept understanding of algebra level mathematics and human anatomy) and patient-focused courses. The curriculum sequence is below. Click here to access course descriptions for all classes listed below.

Junior Year: Semester I (August – December 2013)

Junior Year: Semester II (January – May 2014)

Junior Year: Semester III (June – August, 2014)

Senior Year: Semester IV (August - December, 2014)

Senior Year: Semester V (January - June 2015)

* The Studies in Medical Imaging course is a self-guided, distance learning course that occurs via faculty-prepared presentations. For more information about this course, contact the program director, Mark Adkins, at (317) 338-3879 or meadkins@stvincent.org.  

Class / Clinical Hours

Class hours are typically from 10:00 am – 3:00 pm or 9:00 am – 2:00 pm with breaks and lunch but the exact schedule may vary slightly depending on the course. Clinical hours are typically 7:30 am – 3:30 pm but some evening assignments from 1:00 – 9:00 pm will be required in the senior year.

Class / Clinic Days

Junior year students attend class on Monday and Friday following the first two weeks of enrollment. Clinical days for junior year students are Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursdays. Senior year students attend classes on Tuesday and Thursdays. Clinical days for senior year students are Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays. Clinical days during the summer (semester III) term will be Monday through Friday

Clinical Sites

Primary clinical education sites are St. Joseph Hospital in Kokomo, St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, and Saint Johns Health System in Anderson. Candidates indicate to which primary site they want to be assigned. Once assigned to a given site, students remain at that site for their 22-month tenure in the program. However, students assigned to St. Joseph Hospital and Saint Johns Health System will perform some rotations to St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis for services not offered at St Joseph or Saint Johns.

In addition to primary clinical education sites, students will also rotate to secondary clinical education sites each semester after the first semester. Secondary sites are hospitals within St.Vincent Health. These assignments are 1 week in duration and will occur generally once or twice each semester. Click here to see a map of clinical site locations.

Driving for Academic Courses

While Indianapolis serves as the program’s administrative location, academic classes are coordinated between the primary clinical sites. Some courses will be taught at each student’s primary site by their respective clinical coordinator. This structure enables students to complete a significant portion of the required academic courses at the convenience of their respective primary clinical site. Other courses are taught at St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis, the program’s administrative location. In general, Kokomo and Anderson students can expect to drive to St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis on average approximately one day per week for classes taught in semesters I, II, IV and V

Driving for Clinical Sites

The program’s structure allows students to complete a significant portion of their clinical education at the convenience of their primary clinical site. Students remain at their chosen primary clinical site for their 22-month program tenure. However, some travel to other clinical sites is necessary to provide students with an expansive understanding of medical imaging in different settings. Off-site clinical assignments will begin in Semester III. These off-site assignments are kept to a minimum to meet the educational objectives of the program. Additionally, students assigned to St. Joseph Hospital and Saint Johns Hospital can be expected to travel to St.Vincent Hospital in Indianapolis for access to medical imaging services not or minimally offered at those sites (e.g. pediatrics, surgical radiography, and peripheral vascular radiography). Interested candidates should contact the clinical coordinator for information regarding clinical travel expectations for the respective primary clinical site

The program faculty is sensitive to the inconveniences of traveling for classes and clinical assignments and makes every reasonable effort to minimize the travel expectations. However, traveling is a necessary and reasonable expectation given the learning opportunities that result.

Academic Standards

Students are awarded grades based on academic and clinical performance. The program adheres to the grading criteria below unless specified in a course syllabus.
A = 93.0 - 100% = 4.0 points
B = 85.0 - 92.9% = 3.0 points
C = 75.0 - 84.9% = 2.0 points
F = <75.0% = 0 points 

Students are required to pass every course to graduate from the program. Failure to pass a course with a letter grade of “C” or higher will result in student dismissal from the program

Mastery Based Education

The program adheres to a mastery-based approach to academic and clinical education. In short, students are required to achieve a master level performance of 85% on key academic and clinical evaluations / examinations. Students may be required to repeat (with a limited number of attempts) such evaluations / examinations until an 85% are achieved. Academic and clinical probation may be required for students who struggle academically and/or clinically.

Vacations / Holidays

Vacations are assigned to students between semesters. Additionally students have personal time off (PTO) to be used for personal reasons. Students who wish to take time off outside of assigned vacations must do so at their own PTO. Assigned vacations will not be re-scheduled

The Radiography Program honors the following hospital recognized holidays. Students are not assigned to clinic or class on these holidays. Holiday time is not deducted from the student’s PTO.

• New Years
• Good Friday
• Memorial Day
• Independence Day
• Labor Day
• Thanksgiving and the day following
• Christmas

Graduation Requirements / Objectives

Radiographers are highly skilled professionals qualified by education to perform imaging examinations and accompanying responsibilities at the direction of a physician qualified to request radiologic procedures. The program takes seriously its role in safeguarding the community by graduating only competent radiographers. For the safety and well being of all patients and the community, all graduates entering to profession of radiography will have met the rigorous requirements for graduation, thus enabling their eligibility to sit for the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT) board examination.

To be eligible for graduation, the following requirements must be met.

1. Apply knowledge of anatomy, physiology and positioning to competently and accurately demonstrate anatomical structures on a radiograph or other imaging.
2. Determine exposure factors to achieve optimum radiographic results with minimum radiation exposure to the patient.
3. Evaluate radiographic images for appropriate positioning and overall image quality.
4. Apply principles of radiation protection to patients, self and others.
5. Understand the effects of ionizing radiation on living tissue.
6. Provide basic patient care and comfort to patients across the age continuum.
7. Recognize emergency patient conditions and initiate life-saving first-aid and basic life-support procedures.
8. Demonstrate knowledge and proper use of medical terminology.
9. Recognize when radiographic equipment is not operating properly and report equipment malfunctions to the proper authority.
10. Participate in radiologic quality assurance programs.
11. Demonstrate effective verbal, non-verbal and written medical communication in providing patient care and maintaining professional relationships with other members of the health care team.
12. Exercise independent judgment and discretion in the technical performance of medical imaging procedures.
13. Apply problem solving and critical thinking skills in the academic and clinical settings.
14. Develop professionally beyond the program’s performance expectations.
15. Comply with the profession's Code of Ethics and Practice Standards and perform clinically within the industry’s standard of care.
16. Demonstrate ARRT Board examination readiness.
17. Demonstrate broad-based clinical competency requisite for entry-level employment in radiography.
18. Demonstrate reliability necessary for entry-level employment in radiography.

Terminal Award

The St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program does not award academic degrees. Graduates of the program receive a diploma acknowledging their satisfaction of the graduation requirements. An academic degree is not required for entry-level employment in radiography.

Academic Degree Pathways

The St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program has established pathways with the following regionally accredited academic institutions to enable program graduates to complete an academic degree.
√   Ivy Tech State College
√   Indiana University – Kokomo
√   Indiana University – Bloomington
√   IUPUI 

While the purpose of these pathways is to enable graduates of the program to receive academic credit for program-related experiences, the number of and requirements for credits awarded is determined by the degree-granting academic institutions. Interested candidates should see the Program Director for more information in this regard.

Advanced Clinical Training: The St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program has also established multiple pathways to advanced medical imaging training in CT and MRI. These opportunities can only be realized after completing the 22-month radiography program. If interested, contact the program director for more information.

Transfer Students

The Radiography program will consider individuals wishing to transfer into the program from another JRCERT accredited program in radiography on an individual basis. The requesting student must make the request in writing forward from the program currently attending all transcripts, grade sheets, evaluations, and any other material as requested by the Admissions Committee. Several factors that will be considered include:

• available clinical space; no student will be accepted if clinical space is not available.
• type of program transferring from (hospital, college, vocational, military, etc...)
• academic and clinical courses completed
• clinical competencies completed
• clinical hours and rotations completed
• favorable written recommendation from the current Program Director
• favorable clinical and academic evaluations reflecting healthy progress toward academic and clinical competency
• disciplinary action record
• any other factor deemed relevant by the Admissions Committee

At present, the program does not consider advanced placement for graduates of limited or foreign radiography programs.

Student Services

Although not employees of St.Vincent Health, enrolled students do receive some services and benefits as a result of their enrollment in the Radiography Program. Below is a summary of said services and benefits.

Health Services 

Students enrolled in St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program are eligible to receive the health services as describe below. Refer to the Student Health and Injury Policy for more detail.

1. Pre-enrollment Health Assessment through Associate Health departments. Pre-enrollment services include a physical exam, immunization screening to assure compliance with hospital and regulatory requirements, and drug screening.
2. Training-related injury assessment and care through either the respective hospital associate health department or the emergency department.
3. Training-related exposure to communicable disease assessment and care through either the respective hospital associate health department or the emergency department.
4. Annual surveillance to include but not limited to annual TB testing, flu vaccination campaigns, and other annual health services offered to hospital associates through associate health departments.

In addition to the afore-mentioned health services, enrolled students are eligible to receive Worker’s Compensation (WC) for training-related injuries or exposure to communicable diseases for services not provided by the hospital’s respective Office of Associate Health. This coverage is provided only for medical care when and only when directed by the respective Office of Associate Health. Any medical care sought independently by the student will not be reimbursed and will be solely and completely the financial obligation of the student. No other benefits are provided under this arrangement (i.e. wage replacement). The policy provisions do not cover student commutes to/from assigned clinical sites.
 

Malpractice and General Liability Coverage 

St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program students are covered under the general liability and medical malpractice coverage of Ascension Health only while acting in the authorized capacity and scope of radiography students assigned to clinical sites within St.Vincent Health and only while acting in accordance to all established program and clinical site policies and procedures.

Counseling Services 

Students enrolled in St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program are eligible to receive the counseling services described below.

1. Program faculty offers academic counseling to all enrolled students. Students will be counseled regularly regarding their progress academically and clinically via Progress Reports. Students may also receive academic counseling regarding college credit or continuing education upon request.
2. Students in need or personal or financial counseling may seek referral assistance free of charge through the hospital EAP (Employee Assistance Program). The EAP office will assist the student in finding community resources based on the specific need. All personal or financial assistance is kept strictly confidential.
3. Enrolled students are also entitled to pastoral counseling for matters of personal or religious nature free of charge. Interested students should see the Pastoral Department for more information.

Job Placement
While the program does not guarantee employment upon graduation, the program faculty assists students in finding employment opportunities relative to medical imaging. In addition to writing recommendation letters, program faculty also post position openings, and offer resume’ and interview writing tips.

Academic Services
Enrolled students are eligible to use the hospital medical library within normal operating hours. The hospital library has numerous written resources including periodicals as well as internet access for research purposes. Student may also schedule time with program faculty to use faculty PCs for internet access.

Benefit Services
Students enrolled in St.Vincent Health / St. Joseph Hospital Radiography Program are not full or part time employees and thus not eligible for the benefits entitled to associates.