Policy Statement
Foundations Phase Curriculum
Students should spend no more than 60 total hours per week on academic activities. The 60 hours includes in-class activities, out-of-class preparation, laboratory/anatomy, clinical skills training, and required clinical duties in the Colleges and primary care settings.
Clinical Phase Curriculum
Students should spend no more than 80 hours of awake time in the hospital per week.
Requirements, Procedures and Guidelines
Clinical Phase Curriculum
The goals of medical students and the faculty of the UWSOM are one and the same: to get the best medical education possible while not ignoring overall health and happiness. Attention needs to be paid to both work/duty hours and personal time. Work hour rules have been developed for residents, but similar rules have not been developed for medical students. There are obvious differences in terms of goals, reimbursement, and responsibilities between residents and students. Nonetheless, some guidelines for students are provided here.
Hours are not specifically logged unless the student feels it necessary because of a potential violation. If a student is working close to the 80-hour limit, they should document their hours for the week in question and present them to their site director as soon as possible for modification. Students should also document any violation of the 30-hour policy for overnight call. Further concerns should be brought to the attention of the clerkship director. Students will never be discriminated against for following the work hour policy.
Clerkships with call:
- Post-call, if you did not sleep, go home at the same time as the intern or resident, within 30 hours of starting the prior day.
- Post-call, if you slept at least 5 hours, you should stay through the working day.
- You should have at least one full day off per week, averaged over a month.
- No matter how many hours you have worked, always check out with the team before leaving for the day.
Clerkship without call:
- Parking and transportation issues may demand you leave the hospital by a certain time.
- Feel free to come in early or stay late. Family and personal obligations are important and need to be balanced.
- You should have at least one full day off per week, averaged over a month.
- No matter how many hours you have worked, always check out with the team before leaving for the day.
Find helpful videos for clerkship policies here.
Effective: Current
Last updated: August 11, 2020
Policy Contact: UW School of Medicine, Curriculum Office, somgov@uw.edu; Education Quality Improvement Office, eqi@uw.edu