Office of Student Affiliations

In response to an increasing number of individuals seeking clinical training and observation experiences at WellStar facilities, processing and orientation responsibilities have shifted from the Medical Staff office to the new Office of Student Affiliations. In addition, new policies have been implemented.

The Office of Student Affiliations

The Office of Student Affiliations, which is part of the Organizational Learning Department, is overseen by Don Campbell, M.D. Within this office, Carol Westbrooks, RN, will work primarily with Nursing and Allied Health programs as a coordinator, and Jason Lyda and Kate Hayes will provide technical and administrative support.

Primary Responsibilities

• Manage all activities that relate to non-employees who wish to spend time in clinical areas as part of a formal training program or as an observer.
This includes the processing of applications for student placements and preceptor requests.

• Manage the activities of employees who are enrolled in formal training programs that require clinical activities as a “student” in our facilities.

New Policies
1. Preceptors who are not WellStar employees will be required to sign a Student Services Agreement that clarifies the role and responsibilities of the preceptors.

2. Educational Institutions who send students to spend time with WellStar employees as preceptors will be required to sign a Student Affiliation Agreement that clarifies the roles and responsibilities of the educational institution and WellStar’s role and responsibilities.

(Processing and approval of some student experiences will be suspended until the proper agreements are in place.)

3. Preceptors will be expected to affirm their knowledge of the scope of activities allowed for the students they bring into the facilities.

4. Preceptors will be asked to list the clinical areas where they anticipate that the students will be. (Some areas may be closed to students by managers because of concerns for patient care.)

5. Students will be expected to conform to behavioral and dress standards and will be expected to wear their Student badge when they are in the facilities.

6. We will now need parental consent for students under age 18 and background checks for students over 18.

The controls that we are putting in place will allow us to structure these clinical experiences in such a way that we:

• Respect the rights and wishes of our patients

• Reduce the potential infectious risk to patients

• Reduce the risk to the trainees and observers of infectious or other hazard exposure while in our facilities

• Comply with CMS, State and The Joint Commission guidelines

• Allow staff to focus their attention on their primary patient care role

If you have any questions about this new process, please contact Don Campbell, M.D., at don.campbell@wellstar.org. You may reach the Office of Student Affiliations at 770-956-6432 or by e-mail at katherine.hayes@wellstar.org.

Thank you for supporting us in our goal to provide a rewarding clinical experience for students at all levels.