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Externship Immunization & Documentation Requirements and Absence Policies

The following is an outline of all the documentation and immunization records that the various externships require and the absence policies which you will abide by while on externship.

You are responsible for knowing and complying with all requirements and deadlines (for example including, but not limited to, paperwork, immunizations, background checks and training courses) to be eligible to attend your assigned externships. Please know that requirements may change, however, you must be in compliance with all requirements. Keep in mind that exemptions or allowances on campus may not apply to external clinics. If you are not in compliance with a site’s requirements and are unable to attend your assigned externship or external clinic, we may not have alternative in-house or external rotations available during the same session or the onboarding period may be too short to complete requirements. In the event that you are unable to complete all five 4th year clinical sessions prior to graduation, you will need to complete your training after graduation and tuition for summer session will apply.

If you are not ready to start patient care on the first day of clinic due to inadequate preparation, you will accrue THREE debit days for each day that you miss clinic and do not see patients at the start of your rotation.  Please be professional and responsive when communicating with the externship.

Please make sure that the externship has received evidence of this documentation at least two months prior to your session start date. If an error or omission is on your part and you are not in compliance when your rotation starts, you may be held back from seeing patients. Each day that you are not seeing patients will be considered a missed day.

If you are not ready to start patient care on the first day of clinic due to inadequate preparation, you will accrue THREE debit days for each day that you miss clinic and do not see patients at the start of your rotation.

Therefore, please check deadlines and make sure your paperwork is complete. All immunizations or documents or other training requested are at the student's expense. Please make copies of all documents and immunization records requested and consider bringing copies with you on the first day of your rotation. Sometimes documents are lost in transit. Documents may be printed from the links below. Please note that PPD must be current and expires in one year and cannot expire during the duration of your rotation. It must be redone yearly and it is done over three days - administered on day one and read on day three. If your PPD test comes back positive, you will need to get a chest x-ray.

Please submit immunization documents to the Student Affairs Office. Berkeley Optometry minimum immunization requirements are: Hepatitis B, MMR, Varicella, and PPD/TB. PPD must be done once a year.

The following also denotes the absence policy by which you will abide while on your externships. Requested absences will be approved at the site's discretion. If the site does not have a written attendance policy, Berkeley Optometry’s official Attendance Policy will apply*. Our policy stipulates that the extern must make up any missed clinic days at an appropriate ratio in one of our on-campus clinics.

You will be expected to be in attendance at least 90% of the days of the session in order to meet the attendance requirement while on a rotation. This includes time taken for NBEO examinations. At the end of the rotation, we will require an attendance verification from the site to ensure that you have attended at least 90% of the clinic days in the particular session. Interns who miss a significant number of clinic days may earn an Incomplete grade in the course, as determined by our Associate Dean for Clinical Affairs.

Student Attendance Policy

Attendance Policy

Immunization, Documentation Requirements and Absence Policies

Site Name Site Description Category IAE
Air Force Base, Travis – Fairfield, CA TRAVIS P –
Alameda Health Systems – Eastmont Wellness Center and Hayward Wellness Clinic EASTMONT HAYWARD P –
Bay Area Community Health (BACH) – Fremont & San Jose, CA BACH P –
Byers Eye Institute (Adult Clinic), Stanford University – Palo Alto, CA BYERS-ADULT E –
Byers Eye Institute (Pediatrics), Stanford University – Palo Alto, CA BYERS-PEDS E –
Crow Indian Health Service – Billings, MT CROW M Y
Crownpoint Indian Health Service – Crownpoint, NM CROWNPOINT M Y
Front Range Eye Associates – Broomfield, CO FRONT-RANGE P Y
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Daly City, CA KAISER-DALY CITY P –
Kaiser Permanente Medical Center, Sacramento Area – Sacramento, CA KAISER-SAC P Y
Marin Community Clinic, Novato, CA NOVATO P –
Marin Community Clinic, San Rafael, CA SAN RAFAEL P –
Omni Eye Services, New Jersey – Iselin, NJ OMNI NJ E Y
Over 60 Health Clinic, Berkeley, CA OVER 60 ? N
The Vision Center of West Phoenix – Phoenix, AZ TVCARIZONA P Y
University of California, Santa Cruz – Santa Cruz, CA SANTA CRUZ P Y
UCSF-UCB Berkeley Outpatient Clinic BOPC P Y
UCSF Optometry UCSF P –
UCSF Proctor Foundation USCF PROCTOR M –
VA Casa Grande Community Based Outpatient Clinic – Casa Grande, AZ CASA GRANDE CBOC P Y
VA Central California Health Care System – Fresno, CA VA-CENTRAL CAL M Y
VA Kernersville – Kernersville/Salisbury, NC VA KERNERSVILLE Y
VA Livermore Medical Center – Livermore, CA VA-LIVERMORE M –
VA Long Beach Health Care System – Long Beach, CA VA-LONG BEACH M Y
VA Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Clinic – Los Angeles, CA VA-LOS ANGELES M Y
VA Miami Medical Center – Miami, FL VA-MIAMI M Y
VA Monterey Outpatient Clinic – Monterey, CA VA-MONTEREY M Y
VA Muskogee Medical Center – Muskogee, OK VA-MUSKOGEE M Y
VA Pacific Islands Health Care System – Honolulu, HI VA-PACIFIC ISLANDS M Y
VA Palo Alto Medical Center – Palo Alto, CA VA-PALO ALTO M –
VA Portland Medical Center (Portland Division) – Portland, OR VA-PORTLAND M Y
VA Portland Medical Center (Vancouver Division) – Vancouver, WA VA-VANCOUVER M Y
VA Puget Sound Health Care System – Tacoma, WA VA-PUGET SOUND M Y
VA San Francisco Medical Center, San Francisco, CA VA-SAN FRANCISCO M –
VA San Jose Outpatient Clinic, San Jose, CA VA-SAN JOSE M
 –
VA Sierra Nevada Health Care System – Reno, NV VA-SIERRA NEVADA M Y
VA Southern Oregon Rehabilitation Center and Clinics – White City, OR VA-SOUTHERN OR M Y
Walter Reed National Military Medical Center – Bethesda, MD WALTER REED NMMC P Y
West Oakland Health Center – Oakland, CA WEST OAKLAND P –

Category Codes: E = Elective; M = Medical; P = Primary; IAE = In Absentia eligible

Externships NOT currently offered:
Air Force Base, Vandenberg – Lompoc, CA
Category: P, IAE: Y
VANDENBERG POLICY

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute – Miami, FL
Category: M, IAE: Y
BASCOM POLICY

Bascom Palmer Eye Institute, Pediatric and Strabismus Division – Miami, FL
Category: E, IAE: Y
BASCOM-PEDS POLICY