Supervised Clinical Practice Experiences (SCPE) 

Jason H. Huddleston, DMSc, PA-C

Program Director

P: 615-966-7247

E: jason.huddleston@lipscomb.edu 

Byron Turkett, MPAS, PA-C, FCCM

Director, Clinical Education

P: 615-966-7119

E: beturkett@lipscomb.edu 

Lipscomb Security 

P: 615-966-7600

The objective of the clinical year is to connect students with skilled and experienced providers within various settings of medical practice that provide exposure to diverse patient populations, and exposure to a wide range of patient encounters and conditions. These supervised clinical practice experiences (SCPE) will enable Physician Assistant students to achieve the learning outcomes required to complete the clinical portion of the program. 

Students will be required to complete all of the 7 core SCPEs that include Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Pediatric Medicine, Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Women’s Health, and Behavioral and Mental Health during their clinical year. Students will also complete an elective rotation that may repeat a core SCPE or may be of a different specialty. Each SCPE is 6 weeks in duration. The program reserves the right to replace the elective SCPE with a core SCPE for remediation purposes. 

SCPEs are designed to allow all students to meet all of the learning outcomes for the clinical curriculum. SCPEs will occur in the outpatient, inpatient, emergency department, and operating room settings. The students will obtain exposure to patients that range across the lifespan to include infants, children, adolescents, adults, and elderly. Core SCPEs will also include acute, chronic, emergent, and preventative patient encounters. Additionally, the core SCPEs will allow students to have experiences with gynecologic, prenatal, behavioral/mental health, preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative patient encounters. The majority of SCPEs will occur either with physicians who are specialty board certified in their area of instruction or National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA) board-certified physician assistants. 

Release for Participation in SCPE

To ensure that students understand the risks and potential hazards associated with supervised clinical practice experiences and to protect the students, patients, and the educational institution from liability, all students participating in SCPEs must sign a Release for Participation in SCPE Form before entering the assigned clinical settings. 

Release of Information to Clinical Sites

To ensure that students understand the need to share their personal and academic information with clinical sites and to protect the student's rights to privacy while also ensuring that they receive the appropriate care and supervision during their clinical practice, all students must sign a Release of Information Form upon entering into the SCPE phase of the program.

All students should complete all screening, immunization, health documentation, and training as required in the associated policies below:

Screening Policies

• Criminal Background Check

• Self-Reporting

• Drug Screening

• Pre-Participation Physical

Immunizations & Health Screening Policies

• Immunization

• Tuberculosis Evaluation and Testing

Required Training

• HIPAA 

• OSHA Blood-Borne Pathogens

• BLS/ACLS/PALS

• Tennessee Clinical Placement Systems (TCPS) General Orientation

Insurance Requirements

• Health Insurance

• Supplemental Coverage

• Professional Liability Insurance

All students should have all documentation uploaded and approved in myRecordTracker software prior to initiation of supervised clinical practice experiences.

Students will be required to attend SCPE orientation sessions that will be provided by the program in the semester prior to supervised clinical practice experiences. These sessions will introduce the students to SCPE policies and procedures.

Additional Orientations

• All students will complete the Total Clinical Placement Systems  (TCPS) General Orientation module prior to beginning SCPEs.  The TCPS General Orientation will cover emergency preparedness, infection control & blood-borne pathogens,  caring for diverse populations,  safety in the healthcare environment, and confidentiality/compliance. 

• Students may be required to participate in site-specific orientations as mandated and applicable to each site.

Students will be required to return to campus at the conclusion of each SCPE.  During each EOR session, students will be required to complete the corresponding End of Rotation Exam for the SCPE just completed. Students on Elective SCPEs will prepare a Grand Rounds Presentation and will present to the class a patient encounter (case) of their choice related to their current rotation. Students should also attend board review sessions, professional development, additional skills reviews, and further lectures, as well as participate in remedial exercises as indicated.  Students may also arrange mentoring sessions with their didactic faculty mentor as desired. Please note, attendance at all EOR sessions and events is required.

The supervised clinical practice experiences occurring for the current academic year are listed below:

Please click on the links below for additional guidelines, policies, and PASE informtion appliable to the SCPE phase of training.