Clinical Hours Planner

Translate your remaining clinical requirement into a week-by-week schedule that balances patient-facing hours, simulation labs, and a safety buffer for cancellations.

Remaining clinical hours mandated by your program or licensing board.
Calendar weeks available to schedule placements before the deadline.
Total hours you can commit each week across sites and shifts.
Percentage of hours that must be direct patient care encounters.
Optional. Defaults to 10%. Adds margin for sick days, site closures, or commute delays.
Optional. Defaults to 1. Credit hours earned per actual hour spent in simulation labs.

Verify credit policies and supervision rules with your program director—this planner provides guidance but does not replace official logs.

Examples

  • 720 hrs required, 18 weeks, 40 hrs available, patient share 70%, buffer 10%, simulation factor 0.8 ⇒ Weekly schedule: 44.0 hrs (patient 30.8 hrs, simulation 13.2 credit hrs ≈ 16.5 lab hrs). Patient share 70.0%. Availability status: Needs +4.0 hrs/week or 2 extra week(s).
  • 540 hrs required, 14 weeks, 36 hrs available, patient share 60%, buffer default, simulation factor 1 ⇒ Weekly schedule: 42.9 hrs (patient 25.7 hrs, simulation 17.1 credit hrs ≈ 17.1 lab hrs). Patient share 60.0%. Availability status: Needs +6.9 hrs/week or 2 extra week(s).

FAQ

How do I track night or weekend differentials?

Adjust weekly availability upward if you can add night or weekend shifts, or increase the absence buffer to cover rotations with stricter attendance policies.

Can I export this plan?

Copy the weekly schedule figures into your clinical log or spreadsheet to map specific dates, preceptors, and competencies.

What if simulation is capped by my school?

Lower the simulation credit factor or reduce the patient share percentage to stay within the maximum simulation hours allowed.

Can I model multiple clinical sites with different weekly caps?

Use the lowest guaranteed weekly hours across sites for availability, then rerun the calculator with alternative mixes to confirm you still hit the requirement if a placement ends early.

Additional Information

  • Absence buffer inflates total hours so you can miss placements without falling short of graduation requirements.
  • Simulation credit factor converts required credit hours into real lab time when simulation carries fractional credit.
  • Availability status flags weekly hour deficits so you can add shifts or extend the timeline early.
  • Result units: hours per week, hours by modality, and qualitative availability status

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