Probably a dumb question...

They are only during your official semester. If you're out of class for christmas, you shouldn't have clinicals during that time.

Yes. - They stop for school breaks. At my school they usually started a few weeks after the term began and ended a few weeks before the term ended. And Yes - you will need a vacation by then! :-)

They will probably stop for breaks, but you may want to ask someone in administration before you buy non-refundable plane tickets whether or not clinicals follow the school's academic calendar. My first school did not, and we only had a weekend off for holidays. This was their accelerated program only however, the traditional program had a regular few week break between fall and spring semesters. The accelerated program I'm about to graduate from did follow the traditional calendar, so be aware that it can vary. You'll need to check the final exam calendar also before you buy tickets - some schools get out only a few days before Christmas, others stop in early/mid December.

Our semesters run January - May, then we get a summer break, then we start again the end of August and go until mid December, then another break for Christmas til the end of January.

I know schools semesters run differently than mine, but I would call the school and see what they say - can't hurt!! Would hate for you to plan your vacation and find out that they actually have school part of that week!

Make sure you check your schedule. We had Pharmacology take home assignment that took the entire break over Christmas. You will have to ask an instructor if there are any assignments over the break. Ours was not officially assigned for break but we only had 2 weeks of Pharmacology with unit tests every day and a mid term after the first week and a final at the end of the second week. The only reason I got an A in Pharmacology was I spent eight hours a day writing out each section over break. This class was the last wash out in the Program. We lost about five students who did not put the time in over the break. Good luck and remember its only a Year.
Mike.

Ther e are no dumb questions if you don't know the answers!