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Clinical clearance checklist for program directors
A checklist for the school side of clinical clearance: what to collect from each student, the dates that matter, and what a site needs to see before day one. For the student version, see our student checklist.
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Updated October 24, 2026 · Pact Compliance LLC, Cordova, TN · For college and post-secondary programs, not K-12
1. Before the term: set the rules
- Pull the requirement list from each site's affiliation agreement or student onboarding packet. Note anything that differs from your program list.
- Write down each item's time window. For example: a drug screen within a set number of days before the start date, a background check no older than the site allows, a TB result within 12 months.
- Decide what counts as proof for each item (doses or titer, skin test or blood test, which CPR providers) and whether the site accepts declinations or exemptions.
- Decide who pays: students, or the school on one invoice.
- Check each affiliation agreement's end date.
2. Each student's file
- Immunizations: MMR, varicella, hepatitis B (series and titer), Tdap, flu for the season, plus COVID-19 if a site asks.
- TB screening in the form each site accepts.
- CPR or BLS card, with its end date.
- Health insurance card, if a site requires it.
- Background check and drug test, ordered close enough to the start date to meet each site's window.
- Signed program forms: handbook, confidentiality, any site-specific forms.
- Site training the site assigns (HIPAA, safety modules, an EHR course) and any N95 fit test it requires.
3. Dates to work back from
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Admission or orientation | Open every student's file and send the full list with due dates. Start hepatitis B and titers now; they take the longest. |
| About 60 days before the rotation | Order background checks. County searches can take extra days. |
| Inside the site's window | Order drug tests, so results land inside the window and don't age out before the start. |
| 2 weeks before | Work the "behind" list. Confirm placements, shifts and instructors. |
| 1 week before | Send each site its share link or verification letter. |
| During the term | Watch for items expiring mid-rotation: CPR cards, flu season, annual TB forms. |
These are planning examples. Your sites' written requirements set the real windows.
4. Proof for the site
Sites want a clear answer: is each student cleared, as of the start date? Send a list of cleared students, plus records the site can open. Keep drug test and background check results with the people at your school who need them, not in a shared spreadsheet.
How Pact runs this checklist for you
In Pact Schools each line above becomes a requirement with its own renewal period, due dates by cohort and per-site rules. Students upload from their phone and get reminders. Your roster shows who's cleared, at risk or behind. You send each site a share link or a verification letter in a few clicks.
Pact Compliance Review checks every upload, usually within minutes, 24/7. It approves the document and records its expiration date, or tells the student exactly what is wrong and what to upload instead. Anything only your program can decide, such as an exemption request, comes to you. Drug test results and background check reports are never part of it: they come straight from the lab and the screening partner.
Common questions
What does "cleared for clinicals" mean?
That every requirement on the program's list, and any extra rules for that site, is met and not expired on the start date. Your program and the site make that call; Pact keeps the records and the proof.
How early should students start?
At admission or orientation. Hepatitis B series and titers take the longest, so start those first.
Is there a version for students?
Yes. Our student clinical rotation checklist explains each item from the student's side.
Does Pact take fingerprints or run state clearances?
No. Fingerprint checks and state clearances run through state systems. Pact's background checks are name-based.