A clinical affiliate is a hospital or medical center facility that enters into a relationship with a perfusion program and provides student instruction in the clinical setting.

Clinical affiliates and their instructors play a crucial role in the educational process of perfusion students.  Clinical sites and instructors “pay it forward”, as they help shape the next generation of perfusionists.  Successful clinical affiliates display the following qualities:

Devotion – to give back to the perfusion community by teaching clinical skills.
Willingness – to spend extra hours developing students clinical skills and knowledge.
Culture of safety – supervision of a students clinical interactions are always monitored by the clinician.
Team work – everyone in the clinical setting must be on board to accept a perfusion student into his/her clinical setting.

Successful Clinical Instructors display the following qualities:

Patience – to allow a student to grow clinically and get hands on experience in the clinical setting.
Confidence – in your own clinical skills/knowledge.
Interest and excitement – about your own profession!
Shared knowledge – the ability to  gain knowledge from the student and the curiosity to gain personal knowledge from the questions that the students ask.
Trust – in the students being instructed, to let them interact clinically.