2021 - 2022 COM Student Handbook

Dr. Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine (KPCOM)—Osteopathic Medicine Program 2021–2022 146 An acceptable minimum workweek is 40 hours. The workweek shall be limited to a maximum of 80 hours. Clinical and educational work hours must be limited to no more than 80 hours per week, averaged over a four-week period, inclusive of all in-house clinical and educational activities, and clinical work done from home. Clinical and educational work periods for students must not exceed 24 hours of continuous scheduled clinical assignments. Students must have at least 14 hours free of clinical work and education after 24 hours of in-house call. Students must be scheduled for a minimum of one day in seven free of clinical work and required education (when averaged over four weeks). At-home call cannot be assigned on these free days. This can be accomplished by having the students off every other weekend or other individual scheduling. Students must be given one day off after ten days of consecutive work of 12-hour shifts. Whether students receive a holiday off is determined by the assigned institution (i.e., the site’s clinical assistant dean or preceptor). The school does not exempt students from working on holidays or weekends. A student’s schedule shall be arranged such that his or her time off does not conflict with scheduled formal education programs developed for students. Students shall be assigned activities on, or related to, their current service rotation only. 3. For Medical Outreach Trips a. During Preclinical Training The Office of Preclinical Education supports KPCOM’s efforts to expose medical students to the practice of medicine in underserved communities and nations, while at the same time recognizing the importance of a strong academic background in medicine and patient care. KPCOM Medical Outreach Trips are scheduled to have minimal impact on preclinical coursework. b. During Clinical Training The Office of Osteopathic Clinical Education supports KPCOM’s efforts to expose medical students to the practice of medicine in underserved communities and nations. During their clinical training years, students may utilize elective, selective, and independent study time to participate in the many medical outreach trips that KPCOM supports. However, scheduling of assigned core rotations will not be altered or rearranged to allow students to participate in medical outreach trips. This is due to the many complex components involved in the scheduling of core rotations, as well as the essential relationships that must be maintained with our clinical training partners. In keeping with the minimum two weeks of rotation, the medical outreach trip must be two weeks in length to receive academic credit. Any medical outreach trip that is less than two weeks in length will not be counted as an elective.