Phase 1 Required Academic Activities Policy

Policy Statement

Required academic activities for Phase 1 courses include scheduled class hours and time spent on preparatory activities required for classroom participation. For example, if viewing a 30-minute video is required for a 1-hour class session, the total number of contact hours for this activity is 1.5 hours. The required academic activity hours of Phase 1 should not exceed 35 hours in a single week. There should be no more than 8 hours of scheduled in-class time in a given day.

Students are enrolled in IMC 540 Clinical Immersions three times throughout Phase 1. During this course, students will follow the schedule of their assigned site and may exceed Phase 1 contact hours during this experience. The Duty Hours Policy will apply to Clinical Immersions. Students enrolled in the Primary Care Accelerated Track (PCAT) are governed by a separate policy.

The Office of Medical Curriculum will monitor the required academic activity hours for Phase 1 courses and deliver regular reports to the Phase 1 committee. The Phase 1 committee will bring these regular reports and any concerns to the Curriculum Committee to review and address. All faculty members will be informed of this policy annually and will be required to comply.

Reason For Policy

The Jacobs School recognizes the importance of having unscheduled time for independent study and extra-curricular activities. Since not all learning occurs in the classroom, sufficient time must be allocated for students to adequately prepare for both in-class and out-of-class experiences. 

LCME Standard 8.8 Monitoring Student Time

The medical school faculty committee responsible for the medical curriculum and the program’s administration and leadership ensure the development and implementation of effective policies and procedures regarding the amount of time medical students spend in required activities, including the total number of hours medical students are required to spend in clinical and educational activities throughout the curriculum.

Review History:

  • 10/26/18: Contact hours definition reviewed, average and max hours reviewed, specific language change
  • 11/30/18: Policy codified.
  • 3/24/25: Revised number of contact hours per week to reflect Well Beyond curriculum. Changed policy title to Phase 1 Contact Hours to parallel updated wording from LCME. 
  • 3/19/26: Further revised contact hours per week, specified other academic tracks, and more clearly defined how the policy will be monitored and reported.

Policy Implementation: Course Directors and Office of Medical Curriculum
Policy Contact: Associate Dean for Medical Curriculum