Maryland clinicals for UC nursing students

UC programs and Maryland

Maryland isn't one of UC's seven closed states. Marylanders are shut out only of the three UC options limited to tri-state residents.

Maryland's rules for a school based elsewhere

Maryland's Board (MBON) appears to leave out-of-state schools alone at the clinical stage. Its education pages bring them up only when a graduate applies for a Maryland license, through a substantial-equivalency tool and lists of prelicensure programs it has and hasn't approved. MBON's own domain was geo-blocked when we checked, so we relied on its health.maryland.gov pages.

Two pieces of Maryland law work in your favor. The Nurse Practice Act, at Health Occupations § 8-301(d)(2), lifts the license requirement for someone enrolled in an accredited graduate APRN program while they practice as an APRN inside that program. Separately, COMAR 10.27.01.03(B) lets an RN with a compact multistate privilege practice in Maryland, subject to Maryland law.

Thinking of practicing in Maryland after UC

Here the question is your license after graduation, not your clinicals. MBON won't certify a new NP as an advanced practice nurse until it has vetted the school's NP program. For a program not yet on its approved list, the paperwork (the Program Approval Form) comes from the school rather than the applicant. If Maryland is where you'll work, ask UC early whether your track is listed.

Mentorship, preceptors and no PAs

Maryland earns AANP's full-practice rating, but new NPs get there by declaring an 18-month mentorship, served with a physician or a certified NP. UC's own bar for your preceptor doesn't bend: graduate preparation, certification, twelve months or longer in the role, and a Maryland license without encumbrances.

Maryland isn't among UC's 14 PA states, so a physician assistant can't precept you here. For NP-track students, one hour in five, at minimum, must be spent with an NP of your population focus. UC preceptor requirements sets out the rest.

The NP preceptorship tax credit

Tax-General § 10-739 creates Maryland's NP preceptorship credit. It's aimed at NPs and physicians who teach NP students unpaid, in preceptorships carrying Board of Nursing approval. Qualifying takes three or more rotations, each 90 hours or longer, of community-based training in an area MDH identifies as short of health care workers. Its definitions assume a student from a nursing program the State Board recognizes. An annual ceiling limits total credits, and the section is marked effective until June 30, 2030.

Whether a UC rotation fits that definition isn't clear from our research. A preceptor who wants the credit should raise it with MDH before counting on it.

Your first Maryland hour, and where we fit

Before your first hour, UC's 2026-27 handbook requires a supplemental background check specific to Maryland, paid by you; see background check and drug screen. Your RN license can be a multistate one, since Maryland's compact participation dates from January 19, 2018. Maryland isn't an APRN Compact state.

Baltimore-Columbia-Towson is the largest metro, and the Maryland slice of the Washington metro holds roughly 2.5 million people; Lexington Park and Hagerstown are smaller. MedStar Health, Johns Hopkins Medicine, LifeBridge Health, Luminis Health and the University of Maryland Medical System are major systems, not sites we can vouch for as taking UC students. Our role is finding Maryland preceptors who meet your UC track's rules and helping you assemble what your CSC reviews; UC approves every one. Reach us.