Clinical Practicum Hours

[mmartin767]

Hello All,

I'm not in grad school, but my husband is - he's in his second year. He just received his placement for clinical practicum for the spring semester and it's at the university's hospital. They want him there 5 days/week, for 35-40 hours. He'll still be taking classes, writing a thesis, and we have 3 young children. This seems crazy to me. I've been looking through the program's handbook and can't find anything about a maximum on the number of hours for clinical practicum. My husband doesn't want to rock the boat and ask questions, but this is going to be really tough for us. I thought I'd check in here first. Is this not unusual for a clinical practicum? His current placement is at a school - 3 days/wk for about 20-25 hours which is much more reasonable.

[bibliophile222]

I haven't done any externships yet, but we were talking about them in class the other day, and our professor told us that medical placements are typically 4-5 days a week. This is because they like for students to be kept in the loop and get into the rhythm of the hospital--I guess it seems to be more effective. It is rough that he has to take classes for this--our medical placements will be in the summer and (if desired) our last semester, when there are no classes. I wish him luck, that does sound exhausting!

[Jordyn_M463]

I know for my program our medical placements will be 4-5 days a week, working the same shifts as our supervisors. Depending on the hospital/facility we get placed in, we may also have to stay a few extra weeks because that is what the hospital requires. Unfortunately, I don't think the long hours are that uncommon, although it does suck he will be taking class on top of that. Another possibility could be, since he is in his second year he will be trying to complete the minimum number of clinical practicum hours needed for graduation and certification. I know that we were told that it would be like working a full time job, so that we were sure we would not be under the minimum or cutting it close. Best of luck to him and your family! 

[Auuudriana]

Seems normal. My placements were all 4 days a week for however long my supervisor worked. So there were times when I worked four 9 or 10 hours days at a nursing home.

[meganleigh1]

That is expected in my program as well for the last semester because we don't have classes, just the practicum. It's supposed to be like a full-time job.

[Bmay80]

Yes, this doesn’t seem abnormal. Honestly, they don’t care about your family situation. He just needs to get the boxes checked. On the up side, it’s only a year?