The Drexel drug screen: echain form, urine test and the marijuana rule

The test is part of the compliance package you order through CastleBranch. Drexel's compliance page says the package includes urine testing, and the college's Substance Use Guidelines describe a 10-panel urine drug test carried out at labs CastleBranch designates.

You don't choose a lab and walk in. An electronic chain-of-custody form, the echain, appears in your profile within a day or two of ordering, and that form tells you where to go. The chain-of-custody record follows your sample from collection to result.

1. Order the packageComplete the CastleBranch order your compliance coordinator directs you to.
2. Wait for the echainCheck your profile for the chain-of-custody form one to two days later.
3. Visit the listed collection siteFollow the location and any instructions printed on the form.
4. Let the result postResults return to your CastleBranch profile for the Clinical Compliance team to review.

Drexel's compliance page is blunt: a positive marijuana test “will not be overturned by the third-party testing medical review officers,” even when a medical marijuana card is presented or the use was recreational in a state where it was legal.

That matters for an online program whose students live all over the country. Lawful use at home is not a defense under Drexel's process, and the review officers who assess results will not reverse a marijuana positive for either of the reasons Drexel names.

If you hold a medical card or use cannabis products, talk with your own clinician well ahead of your testing window. Read the Substance Use Guidelines too, so you know what follows a positive result before you test rather than after.

Most students only ever give a urine sample. Drexel's compliance page adds that the package may at times include blood, and that blood testing is student paid. Drexel's public pages don't list what triggers a blood test, so if you're told you need one, ask the compliance team why before you book it.

• The routine urine test sits inside the compliance package, which Drexel says is mostly covered by student fees.
• Blood testing, when it's required, is paid by the student.
• A retest is paid by the student.
• A reasonable-suspicion test, ordered by the program, is paid by the program.

Drexel publishes no prices for any of these. Your CastleBranch order and the compliance team at dhcompliance@drexel.edu have the current details for your program. The full list of who pays across compliance is on clinical compliance.

Drexel's pages describe the frequency two ways. The compliance home page lists yearly background and urine drug screenings as part of the typical package. The Substance Use Guidelines describe the pre-clinical test and set no yearly schedule. Both can be accurate for different programs, since each program has its own list and due dates.

Ask your compliance coordinator whether your track repeats the test every clinical year, and keep the answer in writing with your records. Then put the same question to your clinical site: a site's onboarding can set its own recency rule, and that rule, not Drexel's, decides whether an older result still works for the rotation. Returning students coming back after time away should ask as well, since a gap can put an earlier result out of date.

Some sites want a recent result. Bayhealth in Delaware wants the ten-panel screen to be no more than six months old when the rotation starts, and Virtua in New Jersey has the school verify a drug test before it considers a student. A Drexel test taken far ahead of your term can fall outside a window like that, which can mean testing a second time.

Once your site is confirmed, check its onboarding list for a date limit, then schedule the Drexel test so it satisfies both your coordinator's due date and the site's window where you can. Leave a margin before the compliance deadline itself: the echain can take up to two days to appear, and the lab visit and result need time after that. Nearby systems and their onboarding are on New Jersey and Delaware sites.

Your drug test is one piece of clearance; the clinical site itself is what we deliver. We search for a preceptor and clinical setting that match your Drexel course and patient population, and as soon as a site says yes we pass on its onboarding rules, such as a screening recency window, so one test date can work for Drexel and the site together.

We prepare the preceptor side of Drexel's paperwork with you: CV, license, board certification and the contact for the clinical affiliation agreement. Drexel makes each approval decision, and we make sure the college receives a complete file it can act on straight away. If your preceptor leaves mid-course, we're on call to source a replacement. See how it works.