As clinical clerks, students are expected to be on duty throughout the hospital workday, Monday through Friday. Evening, weekend, and holiday on-call schedules may be the same or less than those for the resident team to which the student is assigned. Student duty hours must take into account student wellness, as well as the effects of fatigue and sleep deprivation on students’ education and performance. Medical students are not required to work longer hours in patient care than residents. Allowing for some modifications at different hospitals and for different cores, the average workday or week should not exceed 50 hours; 30% of this time must be protected academic time consisting of conferences and independent study. During this time students should have no patient care or health-care team responsibility.
All students during the last week of their medicine and surgery cores are to be given two days off before their NBME clinical subject exam, as well as the day of the exam. All students during their last week of ob/gyn, pediatrics, family medicine and psychiatry rotations are to be given one day off before the exam, as well as the day of the exam. These days are protected academic time for self-study and exam preparation and considered an integral part of these rotations. While all clerkship directors must comply with this policy, they do have the option of allowing additional time off for study.