7.02 Vacations and Holidays
Vacations
Vacation or recess periods are built into all years of the curriculum. All students have a recess at the end of December (includes Christmas Day and New Year’s Day), which is determined annually by the academic schedule. Furthermore, all students have additional breaks determined by their curriculum phase.
Please refer to the Academic Calendars for dates.
Holidays
Preclerkship:
- Labor Day
- Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day
- Veteran's Day
- Thanksgiving, the Wednesday before Thanksgiving and the following Friday
- Martin Luther King Day
- President’s Day
- Memorial Day (if not included in summer flex break)
PCE and Post-PCE:
- Thanksgiving and the Friday after Thanksgiving are official Harvard Medical School holidays; students are not required to report for clerkships until the Monday after Thanksgiving. All students are required to be present for clerkship responsibilities until 5:00 PM on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. Students enrolled in subinternships in the Post-PCE should check with the clerkship director about patient obligations before making Thanksgiving plans.
Other PCE Holidays for all* clerkships and PCE Sites:
- Martin Luther King Day – January, Monday
- Presidents Day – February, Monday
- Memorial Day - May, Monday
- Juneteenth National Independence Day - June 19th (day varies)
- Independence Day - July 4th (may be part of the summer recess)
- Labor Day - September, Monday
- Columbus Day/Indigenous Peoples Day - October, Monday
- Thanksgiving - November – see above (Thursday, Friday and the subsequent weekend)
- Christmas and New Year - December (during winter recess)
- All other holidays are currently excluded (Veterans Day and Patriots Day)
*Please note that a small number of minor holidays may be site-dependent.
The BCH Pediatrics clerkship includes an Admit/Night week that typically includes evening shifts Sunday-Wednesday. On weeks of observed Monday holidays, the default will be to give students Sunday night off and return for the Monday evening shift (starting at 5 pm). If students prefer to work the Sunday night shift and have the Monday night shift off, they can choose that option, but must communicate their preference with the clerkship leadership.
Students are expected to be at their clerkships until 5 pm the day before the holiday (the same as Thanksgiving requirements). If a student misses time due to illness or other factors, holidays may be used for make-up time as needed if decided in advance by the student, the clerkship director, and the society advisor. Students would be expected to work weekends and night shifts per clerkship standards.
Updated 12/5/25