2.07 Full or Part-time Status Requirements

All students must be officially registered with the Registrar’s Office each academic year. Students who do not register and are not on an approved Leave of Absence are considered withdrawn from the School.

Students are required to spend four years of full-time study at Harvard Medical School. The Pathways and HST preclerkship and PCE (Principal Clinical Experience) curricula are by design full-time. Any deviations from full-time status will be considered on a case-by-case basis.  During the post-PCE phase, students are required to maintain full-time enrollment while fulfilling the degree requirements – minimally, full-time enrollment during the post-PCE is 12 out of 24 weeks in each academic term as described below. NOTE: minimal enrollment per term does not guarantee that a student is on track for fulfilling the degree requirements.

The academic year consists of 2 academic terms – Fall and Spring. Generally, the Fall term runs July to December, and the Spring term runs from January to June (May in the graduating year). However, due to the complexities of the HMS curricula, there is a distinct calendar for each component of the curriculum; in addition, the begin/end dates for each academic year/phase may vary (See the academic calendars for more information).

Students ordinarily may not enroll in courses that meet at the same time or overlapping times. Students are responsible for ensuring that no overlap exists in the meeting times of their courses. Exceptions to this rule may be granted only by the Registrar, but are rarely granted. Students requesting exemption to this rule must file a petition with the Registrar’s Office. The petition must include the reason for the simultaneous enrollment and an explanation of how the work will be completed for both courses.

Registered students may unofficially audit courses with the permission of the course instructors. However, auditors may not take course examinations or receive course grades, and audited courses do not appear on students’ transcripts nor do they count toward enrollment status.

Updated 5/4/21