I can tell you that part of the clinical aspect is that we start our clinicals later than most other programs. A lot of the programs start clinical exposure right at the beginning of the program where we don't go to clinicals until we are almost 8 months into the curriculum. We are back loaded. I know many NOVA grads in practice whom I have worked with on my clinical rotations. Their clinical skills are excellent. You will always have some students who are slower than others to pick up the clinical skills. As the old saying goes, if you have a good experience you will tell 1 person about it, if you have a bad one you will tell 20. Since I can't speak to each specific instance I'll leave it at that.

As to studying, it is too dependent on the individual. I couldn't give you a reliable answer that might work for you. I know some who can get away with a few hours per day (3-4) and others who may study 7-8 hrs per day.