Performance Sites

The CLS program resides within the Center for Allied Health Programs (CAHP) within the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota. The vision that guides the CAHP is the development of a seamless, learner-centered, educational system that can be accessed by students throughout Minnesota pursuing a career track in the allied health sciences in Minnesota.

The CLS Program has two performance sites, defined as geographic locations where students enrolled in the CAHP programs can access faculty, participate in learning activities, and gain access to support services. These performance sites are also places where technology enhanced learning laboratories, equipped to permit students to practice skills and demonstrate their competence, are located.

The U of M Twin Cities Campus is the original performance site and houses most of the core faculty and staff of the CLS Program, along with classrooms and teaching laboratories. These facilities are located in the Academic Health Center of the University of Minnesota and can be found in the Phillips-Wangensteen building and Moos Tower. Extensive resources and services of the Bio-Medical Library are housed in Diehl Hall. Close to or connected with this complex are University of Minnesota Medical Center - Fairview, Dwan Variety Club Cardiovascular Research Center, Veterans of Foreign Wars Cancer Research Center, and Children's Rehabilitation Center. The Twin Cities campus also currently houses the core administrative staff for the CAHP.

The U of M Rochester Campus is based on the 3rd and 4th floors of newly renovated University Square in downtown Rochester. This facility contains faculty offices, computer equipped study areas, common meeting areas to facilitate social interactions, and state-of-the art lecture facilities with interactive TV to facilitate deliver of course work between the Minneapolis and Rochester Campuses. A new CLS teaching laboratory will open in Fall of 2008 and contains all the equipment and supplies needed to deliver the complexity of the laboratory experiences that CLS students must learn. Wet laboratory exercises offered in Rochester are identical to those offered in Minneapolis and include diagnostic microbiology, transfusion medicine, clinical chemistry, urinalysis, hematology, hemostasis, and molecular diagnostics.

Clinical Experience

As part of the curriculum, all students are required to participate in clinical rotations held at various laboratories throughout Minnesota. For example, clinical experiences for University of Minnesota CLS students are available at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, Allina Laboratories, Fairview Health Services, the North Central Blood Services of St. Paul, Regions Hospital (St. Paul), HealthEast Hospitals (St. Paul), Park Nicollet Health Services, North Memorial Medical Center (Robbinsdale), Ridgeview Medical Center (Waconia), St. Cloud Hospital (St. Cloud), Immanuel St. Joseph's Hospital (Mankato), and Rice Memorial Hospital (Willmar).

Additional information on performance sites can be found on the Center for Allied Health Programs website, including maps and driving directions.