The opportunity to participate in an unpaid internship allows students to have the privilege to shadow an experienced technologist in a real-world environment. To take part in this experience, and work towards completing your training, there needs to be guidelines that are understood and put into practice. Failure to adhere to guidelines may result in termination of the clinical internship. Candidates must be available at least 3-5 days Monday-Friday between 8am and 6pm.

Placement Policy:
The Aquarius Institute guarantees a clinical internship experience for its students. However, the Aquarius Institute has the right to place students at any location within a 30 mile radius of its Des Plaines facility. Students do not reserve the right to ask the Aquarius Institute to be placed at a certain location of their liking, and must either accept the presented clinical site or negotiate a clinical internship on their own.
Students have the ability to find and negotiate a clinical internship on their own. The Aquarius Institute can assist in this process, but will not guarantee that students will be accepted into such a site.

Before students are placed at a site, they must sign a clinical agreement that entails the guidelines in which they have to follow, and explains the repercussions for not following such guidelines. Signature of such a document acknowledges that you are aware of clinical policies and the consequences for breaching such policies. A copy of such a document will be sent to the clinical site.

Professional Conduct Policy:
The clinical internship program is designed to develop professional skills and instill lifelong career practices. Students are expected to comply with the following:

• • • • Interns are expected to comply with HIPA and protect patients/site privacy.
      • No usage of recording/photos during clinicals hours on site.
      • Interns will show up to sites wearing the appropriate attire/scrubs.
      • Respectful conversation is always expected.
      • Interns are expected to conduct themselves in a manner appropriate and conducive to a business/educational environment.

Attendance expectations:
Interns will adhere to the agreed upon schedule set by the site where they are learning. The policy for absences during the internship is as follows:
A maximum of three approved absences during the entire clinical process is allowed. Approved absences require notification to the site contact prior to the scheduled time. Student must contact the site as well as the Aquarius Institute via email/phone before the scheduled start time. This includes sickness/emergencies. The fourth missed scheduled clinical may result in being dropped from the clinical experience.
A no show no call will warrant being dropped from the clinical program. This means that the student has not contacted the site and the Aquarius Institute and does not show up to the site.
Interns are expected to show up on the scheduled time that was agreed upon by the clinical site. Interns should make the necessary reservations to allow them to come on the scheduled time that the clinical site has set. Interns who are tardy to the clinical site for more than 3 times, may be dropped from the clinical internship program, and may not continue clinicals at that site.

Vacation and Long-Term Leaves Policy:
During the entire duration of the clinical experience attendance is mandatory. Vacations are not an option during the internship. The only possible situation where an extended absence from a schedule would be allowed is for a medically documented sickness. It is mandatory to document and communicate such a situation to the site and Aquarius Institute.

Interview/Orientation/Performance
During an orientation/interview and throughout the internship experience at a clinical site candidates may be evaluated based on skills, ongoing performance, and conduct. Potential interns typically are accepted as they are placed based on completing training and generally being a professional individual. Sites have the right to deny acceptance of potential internships based on an interview and to terminate an internship based on performance. If an individual is not accepted 2 times during orientation or interview, or if they are terminated from a location after being accepted based on performance, they will be required to find their own location that accepts them.

Acknowledgment:
Our clinical affiliates are independent of the Aquarius Institute and have their own policies which must be adhered to by our students. Students should be aware that they are not employees of the clinical site, and they should not assume the luxuries and responsibilities given to employees of such clinical sites. Failure to comply with policies and procedures given by the clinical site may result in termination of clinical internship at that site.

Termination Acknowledgment:
If a student violates the policies and expectations outlined above, the student acknowledges that they are responsible for such violations. If the student is dismissed/dropped/terminated from the clinical site, the Aquarius Institute is not responsible for placing the student again in the same or other clinical sites. Students are then responsible for finding their own clinical internship site and must work out an arrangement with that site to place themselves in that clinical internship.

The clinical internship program between the Aquarius Institute and its respective affiliates expects students to understand the value of this opportunity and comply with the criteria listed above. Failure to uphold these guidelines may lead to your clinical internship being terminated.