Do training, reading, and prep time count as hours?

Most programs count work you do for your site, not just work you do at it. The useful test is whether the activity was required by your placement or directly moved your practicum project forward. Your handbook has the final word, so check with your program on anything that feels borderline.

Activities that usually count

• Site-required onboarding and compliance training, such as HIPAA, confidentiality, or data security modules. HIPAA and compliance training covers why sites treat this as real work.
• Learning a tool your project needs, like REDCap, GIS software, or a statistical package, when you are learning it to complete an assigned task
• Reading that informs a deliverable, such as background literature for a needs assessment or the program documents you must evaluate
• Preparing for meetings and presentations, including drafting agendas, slides, and talking points
• Staff meetings, trainings, and webinars your preceptor asks you to attend

Activities that often do not count

• General coursework, even when it relates to your placement
• Academic writing for your program, such as your ILE paper, unless your handbook says otherwise
• Independent learning with no link to your assigned work, like a free course you took out of curiosity
• Program-side requirements such as school orientation sessions, which some programs count and others do not

How to log gray-area time

Be specific about the purpose. "Completed REDCap training to build intake survey for diabetes program" is easy for a reviewer to accept; "online training, 3 hrs" invites questions. Link the entry to the project or competency it supports.

If you are unsure, ask your preceptor or coordinator before the hours pile up, and note their answer in your log. A quick confirmation now is much easier than defending a block of hours at the end of the semester.