Preceptors for UC's online nurse-midwifery MSN

How UC's midwifery MSN is built

The nurse-midwifery program is an online MSN, accredited by ACME, with in-person precepted clinicals and time on campus. UC Online lists 57 credits, 784 clinical hours and 42 lab hours; the curriculum guide lays that out as a two-year, six-semester plan, and new cohorts begin in spring, summer and fall. Admission requires prior experience caring for women in the antepartum, intrapartum or postpartum period, and labor and delivery experience is preferred.

Midwifery carries two skills events of its own. CSI 1 is an online day that opens your ANW8006 semester, and CSI 2 brings you to campus for two days as ANW8062 begins, rehearsing birth and GYN skills such as shoulder dystocia and postpartum hemorrhage scenarios. The NURS8020C health assessment immersion comes on top from Spring 2027; the immersion page has the logistics.

Seven states are closed to UC's graduate clinicals, midwifery included; state authorization names them and the extra forms a few others require.

The four clinical courses

Hours rise from 168 to 224 once births begin. Full course rules and experience targets are on midwifery clinicals.

UC's minimum experiences are 40 primary care, 80 gynecologic, 100 antepartum, 60 intrapartum (with at least 35 births), 50 postpartum and 30 newborn. UC notes that most students log many more. Home births are limited to two weeks or five births.

Who can precept a midwifery student

Midwifery breaks from UC's NP rules in several ways. Once a preceptor clears the general bar on UC preceptor requirements, these track rules decide the rest.

• At least 50% of your clinical hours with a CNM or CM, certified through AMCB.
• Other preceptors by course: OB/GYN physicians, family practice physicians (in ANW8062, only those who attend births) and nurse practitioners in ANW8006.
• Licensed midwives (LM) and certified professional midwives (CPM) cannot precept.
• No minimum hours per preceptor, but anyone you work with for 8 hours or more must submit a full Preceptor Application, and every midwifery preceptor also sends a CV.
• A physician assistant may supervise at most 20 hours, only in ANW8006, only in the states UC allows and only with program director approval.
• Relatives can't precept you, and someone from your own department needs the program director's approval.

Your workplace, telehealth and certifications

Midwifery students may train where they work, which several UC NP tracks restrict. The arrangement is written up on a form titled “Precepting in the Setting Where You Work”, approved by the program director and signed by the two of you. Clinicals where you work compares this with the other tracks.

Telehealth may count here too, one request at a time and only with the program director's agreement. Midwifery is one of two tracks where you can join those visits from elsewhere by live video, never from a public place, and your RN license has to match the state the patient is sitting in.

Before ANW8062 you must complete a fetal monitoring course and hold Neonatal Resuscitation Program (NRP) certification. Build both into the term before Practicum II so neither holds up the start of your birth placement, which also opens with the on-campus intensive in week 1.

Where midwifery searches get hard

The intrapartum placement is the bottleneck. ANW8062 needs a CNM or physician who attends births at a hospital or a hospital-attached birth center, enough birth volume to move you toward 35, and a site whose agreement can be signed in time. A freestanding birth center that isn't attached to a hospital doesn't meet UC's setting rule for births.

The 50% rule shapes the rest of the plan. An OB/GYN practice may give you excellent gynecologic and antepartum hours, but you still need enough CNM or CM time elsewhere to keep your total at half. Track the split every term rather than discovering a shortfall during ANW8064.

The 8-hour application rule adds paperwork in group practices. If several midwives share call at your birth site, each one you work alongside for 8 hours or more needs an application and CV on file, so ask early who is likely to be on duty during your term.

Timing your midwifery packets

1. Line up the birth site first. Work backward from ANW8062: find the CNM or birth-attending physician, confirm the hospital or attached birth center, and check when NRP and fetal monitoring fit.
2. Collect CVs with applications. Each midwifery preceptor sends a CV with the Preceptor Application, after you finish the student section.
3. Meet UC's packet deadline. Each term has a fixed Friday cutoff about three months out; packet deadlines lists them. Large systems such as Cleveland Clinic must be approached through your CSC first, so start those earlier.
4. Expect approval late. Going by UC's midwifery FAQ, the welcome email, and your preceptor's appearance in eMedley, tend to come only three to six weeks ahead of classes. The site agreement runs on its own clock of six weeks or more.
5. Confirm the site by week 2. A practicum still without a confirmed site when week 2 closes should be dropped before the drop date to protect your refund. The week-2 rule has the detail.

Where we fit: we search for CNMs, birth-attending physicians and gynecologic preceptors near you who meet UC's midwifery rules, help you assemble application details and CVs, and stay involved if a preceptor pulls out. Your coordinator and program director still decide who is approved. Read how it works for our steps.