Radiography

The radiography program is a cooperative program between Southwest Virginia Community College and Virginia Highlands Community College, and due to the geographical distance between campuses, travel may be required to the remote campus to better facilitate learning. Instructors will travel between the two campuses and be as equitable as possible with in-person learning opportunities. A faculty member will be present to assist students on each campus, but the instructor may be presenting by Zoom when not in person.

Program Mission: The cooperative Radiologic Technology Program at Southwest Virginia Community College and Virginia Highlands Community College is dedicated to serving students from southwest Virginia, eastern Tennessee, and eastern Kentucky. The Program will provide a quality educational experience in the art and science of radiologic technology and help the students succeed, both academically and clinically, as entry-level registered radiographers. It is the Program’s aim to provide a sound foundation for our students towards building a rewarding professional career, and an opportunity to qualify as a valued contributing member of the healthcare team for our region. Contact us at: sw.edu

Program Effectiveness Measures:
Goal 1: The Cooperative Radiography Program will monitor program effectiveness.
1.1 Students who enter program will graduate
1.2 Graduates will pass the ARRT registry examination
1.3 Graduate will gain employment as radiographer
1.4 Graduates will indicate preparedness as an entry-level radiographer
1.5 Employer satisfaction with graduate’s preparedness for entry-level radiographer

Goal 2: Students will demonstrate clinical competence and entry-level radiographer skills.
2.1 Students will demonstrate a knowledge of appropriate technical factors
2.2 Students will demonstrate the knowledge and ability to apply appropriate CR, tube angle, patient position, and collimated field.
2.3 Students will demonstrate appropriate collimation.

Goal 3: Student will demonstrate problem solving and critical thinking skills.
3.1 Students will practice problem solving methods using radiographic situations.
3.2 Students will practice critical thinking and problem-solving skills on non-routine trauma patients with multiple examinations.

Goal 4: Students will demonstrate effective communication skills and personal accountability.
4.1 Students will practice appropriate communication skills
4.2 Students will demonstrate personal accountability by following a prescribed dress code
4.3 Students will exhibit mastery of ethicolegal concepts.

Goal 5: Students will develop professionally and demonstrate an understanding of the benefits of life-long learning.
5.1 Students will demonstrate the ability to seek employment
5.2 Students will practice networking with colleagues/peers within the profession

Accreditation: This program is fully accredited, with a 5-year award, by the Joint Review Committee for Radiologic Technology Education (JRCERT), 20 North Wacker Drive, Suite 2850, Chicago, Illinois, 60606-3182, phone (312)704-5300. You may also contact JRCERT at mail@jrcert.org or at www.jrcert.org. Detailed Program Effectiveness Data is available from the link on the right side of the page. The JRCERT also publishes program effectiveness data, available at https://www.jrcert.org/programs/southwest-virginia-community-college/.

Occupational Objectives: Employment opportunities for well-trained registered radiographers are available in hospitals, clinics, education, industry, government agencies, and private offices.

In addition to the general admission requirements to the College, applicants must be high school graduates or equivalent and must have a “C” average. They must also achieve a cumulative GPA of 2.0 on all college work.

Applicants to the Radiography program must have taken the Test of Essential Academic Skills – also known as the ATI TEAS – Allied Health within the last five years. (We will also accept the ATI TEAS if students have taken that version in order to apply to a nursing program.) The ATI TEAS Score Report (PDF) must be attached to the application sent to admissions and emailed to donna.corns@sw.edu. Register for TEAS test at SWCC. Choose Cedar Bluff, Virginia, for testing delivered at Southwest.

To meet the Radiography Program’s specific admission requirements, the applicant must have completed and submitted for file at the college by February 15th.

• One year of Biology with lab; High School Biology or (BIO 101 at SWCC) with a “C” or better grade.
• One year of Chemistry with lab; High School Chemistry or College (CHM 111at SWCC) with “C” or better grade.
• Official High School/GED and college transcripts submitted to the Admissions Office
• A minimum 2.0 curricular GPA is required. The GPA will be based on the last school attended, whether HS or college, with at least 12 credits.
• Completion of the TEAS AH test before February 15.
• Students must be eligible to take ENG 111 and MTH 154.
  • All prescribed corequisites must be completed before application to the program.
• Hospital observation requirement in a Radiology Department for a minimum of twelve (12) hours must be completed by January 15th; this observation is to be documented by radiology personnel denoting date(s) and time(s). If an applicant is unable to shadow in person due to restrictions or age, they can complete the shadow replacement assignment for the same points on the selection rubric. However, the program highly recommends in-person shadowing if at all possible. Shadowing hours are accepted for three years.
• All the above submitted with radiography application to the Admissions Office by February 15th
• Applicants will be required to attend an information session hosted by the Radiography Program faculty after the February 15th application deadline. Details regarding the date and time of the session will be communicated by VCCS email.

The Radiology Program admission requirements listed must be completed and on file at the college by February 15.

Students should make their advisor aware of any plans to transfer to a senior institution. Students who are planning to transfer to a senior institution may be advised to take upper-level math and science courses as prerequisites to the Radiography Program. Students selected for the Radiography Program are required to submit a Health Certificate complete with a physical examination/vaccination history signed by a physician prior to final admission to the program. The certificate will be furnished by the program and when returned, it will be kept on file for program documentation. Applicants are to wait for selection notification from the program before proceeding with the physical examination due to the expense involved.

When enrollments must be limited for any curriculum, priority shall be given to all qualified applicants who are residents of the political subdivisions (Buchanan, Dickenson [partial], Russell, or Tazewell counties), supporting the College and to Virginia residents not having access to a given program at their local community college, provided such students apply for admission to the program prior to registration or by a deadline established by the College. In addition, residents of localities with which the College has clinical-site or other agreements may receive equal consideration for admission. To be considered as a Virginia resident, an applicant must be domiciled within Virginia for 12 months prior to February 15. Applicants moving out-of-state between February 15 and the first day of classes will lose their preferred status and any offer of admission to the program will be withdrawn. Out-of-region applicants who are Virginia residents will be considered for program openings available after April 1 and out-of-state applicants for openings available May 1.

Physical Demands:

1. Duties frequently require squatting, bending, kneeling, reaching, and stair climbing
   Also includes occasional crawling and climbing.
2. Duties include lifting/positioning of patients and equipment required to provide care:
   • frequent lifting and carrying up to 50 pounds
   • frequent pushing and pulling up to 200 pounds with assistance
   • occasional lifting up-to 200 pounds with assistance
   • occasional carrying up to 51-74 pounds
3. Duties require constant use of acute sense of sight, hearing, and touch.
   • ability to read orders, test results, instructions, labels, differentiate color, consistency
   • must be able to hear heart sounds, etc.
   • must be able to palpate and distinguish heat/cold
4. Duties require the ability to wear Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) as indicated by clinical or college facility and as appropriate for patient condition, possibly/frequently for long periods of time. PPE can include, but is not limited to, gloves, gowns, hats/bonnets, shoe covers, surgical masks, N95 respirators, Powered Air Purifying Respirators (PAPR), etc.

Environmental Conditions:
Environmental conditions include procedures that involve handling blood and body fluids using universal precautions.

Program Requirements: Upon admission and during the course of the program, the radiologic faculty will carefully observe and evaluate the student’s suitability for the profession. If, in the opinion of the radiologic faculty, a student does not exhibit professional behavior, the student may be asked to withdraw from the program.

Once enrolled, students who receive a final grade lower than “C” in any of the courses in radiography or related areas must obtain permission from the program director to continue their major in radiography. The Radiography Curriculum grading scale is as follows: A:94-100; B:87-93; C:80-86; D: 73-79; F: below 73.

Selected learning experiences will be provided at the cooperating hospitals within the geographic areas served by the college. The student is expected to provide transportation to such facilities. Travel, time, and expense must be anticipated because of program design and location. Travel distance will vary and can be more than 60 miles one way from your home campus, depending on the hospital clinical assignment. Travel can regularly exceed 60 miles from your home, depending on your residence location and the hospital’s clinical assignment. The program cannot guarantee clinical placement close to all students’ homes. Students will rotate to a minimum of two clinical sites at different locations during the clinical component of the program.

Clinical Affiliates are located at the following facilities.

• Bristol Regional Medical Center; Bristol, TN
• Buchanan General Hospital; Grundy, VA
• New River Valley Medical Center; Christiansburg, VA
• Tazewell Community Hospital; Tazewell, VA
• Clinch Valley Medical Center; Richlands, VA
• Clinch Valley Physicians Associates; Claypool Hill, VA
• Carilion Giles Community Hospital; Pearisburg, VA
• Holston Valley Medical Center; Kingsport, TN
• HMG-Sapling Grove; Bristol, TN
• HMG-Meadowview; Kingsport, TN
• Johnston Memorial Hospital; Abingdon, VA
• Lewis Gale Hospital; Pulaski, VA
• Lonesome Pine Hospital; Big Stone Gap, VA
• Norton Community Hospital; Norton, VA
• Pikeville Medical Center; Pikeville, KY
• Russell County Hospital; Lebanon, VA
• Smyth County Community Hospital; Marion, VA
• Twin County Regional Hospital; Galax, VA
• Wythe County Community Hospital; Wytheville, VA

The purchase of and payment for items (such as student uniforms, accessories, radiographic markers, dosimetry radiation monitoring service, club dues, state affiliation membership, educational software, Clinical requirement document management account, HIPAA training, Clinical tracking account, personal health insurance, liability insurance, required immunizations, physical examinations, background checks, drug screens, American Heart Association CPR certification fee, Kettering seminar, and ARRT licensure/certification application fee) is the responsibility of the individual student.  Students are required to provide proof of health insurance at least annually while enrolled in the program.

Criminal Background Checks/Drug Testing:
Background checks for criminal history and sex offender crimes against minors are required for entrance into some clinical agencies. Students with convictions may be prohibited from clinical practice and may not complete the program. Clinical agencies may require drug testing prior to placement of students for clinical rotations. Students with positive drug test results may be prohibited from clinical practice and may not complete the program. The cost for criminal background checks and drug testing will be the responsibility of the student.

Reciprocity Statement:

Pursuant to United States Department of Education (US DOE) regulation 34 CFR 668.43 (a) (5) (v), the Southwest Virginia Community College associate degree in Radiography program provides the following information for all prospective and current students:

Upon completion of the radiography program, graduates will be required to take the American Registry of Radiologic Technologists national board examination to be eligible for employment in a hospital-based imaging department. The American Registry of Radiologic Technologists allow 3 years or 3 attempts to pass the national board examination. After that, the student will have to complete the whole program in its entirety again to receive another 3 attempts/3 years.

State license requirements for employment outside a hospital setting vary from state to state.

Licensure requirements can be obtained from the state’s board of health. If a student plans to live or move outside Virginia, a list of state educational requirements can be obtained by consulting the program director.

SWCC is regionally accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC).

Licensure Reciprocity (https://sw.edu/health-technology/wp-content/uploads/Licensure-Reciprocity.pdf)

The Radiography Program will follow the college-wide Continuity of Operations Plan in cases of emergency or pandemic.