Congratulations on your acceptance for a clinical rotation at a UWM affiliate hospital!

You’ve got a clinical placement, so the rest is up to you!  Don’t forget – in order to complete your clinical rotation, you still need to maintain the minimum grade requirements for the program that you are enrolled in.  Study hard, and reach out to us if you need anything.  Our goal is to help you to succeed!

-Zac and Brad

Senior clinical rotations for the Medical Laboratory Sciences and Public Health Microbiology submajors require materials to be submitted for “onboarding” at each clinical affiliate site.  This page is intended to guide you through this onboarding process so that you will be ready to start your clinical rotation.  Failure to complete all required onboarding materials may prevent you from completing a clinical rotation.

We will be using a company called CastleBranch that will conduct a 10-panel drug screen, background check, and collect all of the required documentation that is described below.  The fee for this service is $107.00, which you will pay when you create your account.  Additional fees may apply (see Heath Status Assessment and Background Check sections for information on possible additional fees).  Unless otherwise specified by CastleBranch, all of the required documentation that you will need to sign and/or submit can be found on your personal CastleBranch account page. When filling out and submitting documents, please only use the forms that are provided by CastleBranch.

Visit the BMS CastleBranch Page for instructions on creating an account and uploading files.

The deadline to submit all of your required documents to CastleBranch is Friday, July 30th 2021!

SPECIAL NOTE: TB testing and Flu Vaccination have special deadlines after July 30th (see the Immunizations and TB skin test section for more information).

Biomedical Sciences Policies & Procedures for the Professional Training Year

Students must review the Biomedical Sciences Policies & Procedures for the Professional Training Year document.  This policy outlines the professional year curriculum, requirements for health insurance, background checks, safety, and others that are needed in order to start your clinical rotation.  The last page, Acknowledgment of Clinical Training Policies & Procedures, will need to be signed and submitted to CastleBranch as part of the onboarding process (a copy of this form can be found on your CastleBranch account page).

Health Insurance Coverage

Students are required by the clinical affiliates to carry health insurance coverage during the entire clinical rotation.  Each student must provide a copy of their current health insurance card or proof of coverage, and this information will be submitted to CastleBranch as part of the onboarding process.

Health Status Assessment

Physical Exam

Students are required to have a physical examination to be completed within the past 12 months prior to starting clinical rotations, and it is recommended that you schedule this as soon as possible to ensure this is able to be completed by the deadline.  The physical examination can be obtained through the UWM Norris Health Center, or through your private physician, and results will be documented on the Health Status Assessment w Drug Screen form (the physician must fill this form out).  Copies of this form, along with a Health Records Release Authorization Form, can be found on your CastleBranch account page, and both will be submitted to CastleBranch as part of the onboarding process.  The cost of a physical exam is not covered in your CastleBranch fee, so you will need to contact the Norris Health Center or your personal physician to determine if there will be any charges for this service.

NOTE:  Due to the extended deadlines, the TB test and Influenza Vaccine spots can be left blank if these have not been completed when you submit the health status assessment form.  Documentation of those items can be submitted to CastleBranch after completion and before the start of your clinical rotation (see the Immunizations and TB skin test section for more information).

NOTE:  If you have recently had a physical exam and do not want to have another one, you may bring your Health Status Assessment form to the physician for completion based on that exam.

Immunizations and TB Skin Test

Students will need to provide documentation of vaccines or antibody titers for Hepatitis B, Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Tetanus, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Varicella (Chicken Pox), Influenza, and COVID-19 (see COVID-19 section below).  Students will also need to provide proof of a negative TB skin test, chest X-ray, or Quantiferon TB blood test that has been performed within 3 months of your clinical rotation start date (instructions and documentation requirements can be found on your CastleBranch account page). The cost of any immunizations that need to be completed, as well as the cost for TB testing, is not covered in your CaslteBranch fee, so you will need to contact the Norris Health Center or your personal physician to determine if there will be any charges for these services.

There are spots on the CastleBranch page to submit each of your immunization records.  If you have all records on one form, you can submit this same document in each spot for all of the immunizations.

**SPECIAL NOTES ON TB TEST AND FLU VACCINE

TB testing must be completed within 3 months of the start of clinical rotations, which typically begin on or around November 1st.  You should schedule your TB skin test to be performed after August 1st.  Documentation must be submitted to CastleBranch after completion and before the start of clinical rotations.

Flu vaccination must be for  the current year.  These vaccines are typically released in September-November, and documentation must be submitted to CastleBranch after vaccination is completed and before the start of clinical rotations.

**COVID-19 Vaccine (NEW)

There is now a spot on CastleBranch to upload documentation of your COVID-19 vaccination.  If you have not yet received a vaccination to COVID-19, we recommend doing this as soon as possible to make sure the whole series is completed prior to your clinical start date.  As far as we are aware, sites will be requiring that you are at least 2 weeks past your final shot before starting rotations, so keep this in mind when scheduling these.  You will need to start the single dose vaccine at least 2 weeks prior to starting rotations, and will need to start one of the 2-dose vaccines at least 4 weeks prior to the start of your rotations, so please don’t delay in completing this.

Some sites may be offering vaccine waivers for medical and/or religious reasons (similar to the Flu vaccine). If you have not received the COVID-19 vaccine yet and do not plan to, please contact us right away so that we can get you in touch with your site education coordinator and site HR department to see if you are able to submit a waiver. The waiver approval process would go through your clinical site, and they will have the final say regarding placement if you choose not to receive the vaccination.

Drug Screen

A 10 panel drug screen including amphetamine, barbiturates, benzodiazepine, cocaine, marijuana, methadone, methaqualone, opiates, phencyclidine, and propoxyphene is required prior to the start of clinical rotations.  This will be performed by Quest Diagnostics, and you will schedule the drug screen through your CastleBranch account.  If you anticipate a positive drug screen, set up a time to meet with Brad De Pons (bkdepons@uwm.edu) and Zac Lunak (lunak@uwm.edu) as soon as possible to discuss this.

If you are currently taking a prescription medication that results in a positive drug screen, CastleBranch will provide instructions to you and may require additional documentation from your physician.

If it is found that you have a positive drug screen that is not related to medications prescribed by a physician, contact Brad De Pons and Zac Lunak for further instruction.  A clinical placement is contingent on acceptance by a clinical site, and this information will need to be provided to the clinical site human resources department for decisions regarding clinical placement acceptance.  Students that are not accepted by a clinical affiliate may not be able to complete clinical rotations with UWM, and may not be able to graduate in the Medical Laboratory Sciences or Public Health Sciences submajor.

Background Check

A Wisconsin State criminal background check is required prior to the start of clinical rotations.  This will be performed by CastleBranch, and is included in the cost of your account.  Instructions on completing this background check, as well as the Background Information Disclosure Form and Background Check Release form, can be found on your CastleBranch account page.

For the Background Information Disclosure (BID) form, there is a spot that says “Check the box that applies to you”.  You can check “other” and type in “Clinical Rotations.  You can leave the “Position Title” spot blank, since you’re not a prospective or current employee.  For the Business Name and Address, you can enter “University of Wisconsin – Milwaukee 2400 E Hartford Ave Milwaukee, WI 53211”.  It is normal for the BID form to remain as “pending review” in your CastleBranch site after submission, so you do not need to do anything extra to get this to say “complete”.  You will be contacted if any more information is needed regarding the BID form.

If you have resided outside of Wisconsin in the last 3 years, you may be required to complete a Federal Background Check at an additional charge.  CastleBranch will contact you with instructions if a federal background check is required.

If you anticipate a positive criminal background check, or if the criminal background check is found to be positive by CastleBranch, set up a time to meet with Brad De Pons (bkdepons@uwm.edu) and Zac Lunak (lunak@uwm.edu) as soon as possible to discuss this.  A clinical placement is contingent on acceptance by a clinical site, and this information will need to be provided to the clinical site human resources department for decisions regarding clinical placement acceptance.  Students that are not accepted by a clinical affiliate may not be able to complete clinical rotations with UWM, and may not be able to graduate in the Medical Laboratory Sciences or Public Health Sciences submajor.

OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens and HIPAA training

To meet the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens and HIPAA training required by the clinical sites, we will use MediaLab training modules, which can be found at www.medialab.com.

If you do not currently have a MediaLab account, follow the MediaLab Registration instructions.  Make sure to use your UWM email address when making an account.  If you are not sure if you already have an account or do not remember your password, contact Brad (bkdepons@uwm.edu).

Adding courses

From the home page, click OPEN ENROLLMENT at the top of the page

Scroll down to HIPAA

Add the HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules training module to your courses by clicking “Take Course” (2 CE credit hours)

Return to the Open Enrollment page and scroll down to OSHA Compliance

Add the OSHA Bloodborne Pathogens training module to your courses by clicking “Take Course” (1.5 CE credit hours)

Taking courses

Click My Courses at the top of the page.  The HIPAA and OSHA modules should display.  Click Start Course to the right of the module to begin.  There will be a short quiz at the end of each module, and a 70% or higher is required to pass the course.  If you do not pass on your first attempt, re-add the course by following the instructions above, and retake until you achieve a passing score.  Contact Brad at bkdepons@uwm.edu if you have any issues.

Submiting Certificates

When you complete the quizzes, print out the certificate by clicking certificate next to the module name, then click print certificate at the top of the page.  This is in the form of a PDF file, and can be saved to your computer instead of physically printing the document. Certificates for each course will be uploaded to your CastleBranch account.

Student File and Health Records Release Authorization Form

There is a spot on CastleBranch to submit a Student File Records Release Authorization Form, and another spot to submit a Health Records Release Authorization Form.  These two forms have been combined in to a single Health Records and Student Files Release Authorization Form.  This form is pre-filled out with all required release information, and only needs to be signed.  This single form can then be uploaded in to both the Health Records Release and Student FIle Release spots.

There is an option given on the form to give permission to additional people to disclose records to, such as future employers, or to indicate any files that you do NOT want to disclose.  You may fill these spots out if you know of any additional people you want information disclosed to or know of any information you do not want disclosed, but it is not required (most students just leave these spots blank).  All of the required disclosures that we need for clinical rotations are stated in the paragraphs at the top of each section.