Physician assistants as preceptors for UC students

The short rule

UC's standard preceptors are nurse practitioners, certified nurse-midwives and physicians (MD or DO), with the exact mix set by your track. Physician assistants come in only through a narrow exception on the Clinical Planning page: in a named list of states, a PA may precept a UC student case by case, and for limited hours.

Case by case means nothing is automatic. A PA in a listed state still needs your CSC's review before any hours count, and your track's rules on time with an NP or CNM cap how much of your term the PA can cover. UC doesn't publish a fixed number of PA hours for the NP tracks, so ask your CSC what limit would apply to your plan before you ask the PA for anything.

The 14 states on UC's list

The Clinical Planning page names these states: Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas. If your PA practices anywhere else, UC won't accept them as your preceptor, however strong their credentials.

UC's own documents don't quite agree. The Clinical Preceptor Guide (revised May 2026) prints a list of 13 that leaves out South Carolina. If your PA is in South Carolina, ask your CSC which list is current before you plan a term around that preceptor, and keep a second lead warm while you wait.

UC doesn't explain why these states made the list. The Preceptor Guide does add a rule that can only narrow things further: any added preceptor standard a state's regulators impose takes priority over UC's own policy.

The hours a PA can't count toward

Every NP track sets a floor of hours with a nurse practitioner. The Clinical Planning page puts it at one-fifth of required clinical hours, spent with a board-certified NP who shares your population focus, and several tracks write a firm number on top. Time with a PA adds to your total but can't fill those floors.

Per-preceptor minimums matter as well. An FNP preceptor needs at least 60 hours with you, and AGPCNP and AGACNP preceptors at least 80, so a PA offered for a few shifts may not fit even in a listed state. Hours by course are on UC clinical hours.

Nurse-midwifery: 20 hours in ANW8006

Midwifery has the only written PA cap. A PA may precept a nurse-midwifery student for up to 20 hours, only in ANW8006, the primary care practicum for episodic illness in women, and only with program director approval. The rule names no other midwifery course, so plan PA time for ANW8006 alone.

Two other midwifery rules reach that PA. Anyone who precepts you for eight hours or more owes UC a full Preceptor Application, so a 20-hour PA needs a complete packet, and midwifery preceptors must also send a CV. And at least half of your total hours must be with a CNM or CM, which a PA can never supply. Nurse-midwifery clinicals covers the rest of the track's requirements.

PAs in the Cincinnati tri-state

For students in UC's home region, the list splits the metro. Kentucky is a listed state, so a PA in Northern Kentucky can be considered case by case. Ohio and Indiana are not listed, so a PA practicing in Cincinnati or southeast Indiana can't precept you, whatever their specialty.

That matters when a practice has offices on both sides of the river. UC ties preceptor licensing, and your own RN license, to the state where the clinical takes place, so tell your CSC exactly which office you'd work from. If a Kentucky PA is your strongest lead, raise it early: a case-by-case review takes time, and the week-2 site cutoff doesn't move. Kentucky and Indiana clinicals covers the other cross-river differences.

Tracks where the PA route rarely fits

Some track documents list preceptor types that leave little room for a PA, even in a listed state. PMHNP Internship I needs a master's-prepared, licensed psychotherapist, and Internships II and III need a prescriber: a PMHNP-BC or PMHCNS-BC nurse, or a psychiatrist who is board certified or board eligible. The NNP list names NNPs, PNPs, pediatricians and neonatologists. PNP Acute Care names PNPs, physicians and pediatric-focused FNPs.

The FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP preceptor lists name NPs and physicians (plus CNMs and WHNPs for FNP), not PAs, so the Clinical Planning page's state exception is your only basis for asking. Raise it with your CSC before the PA fills in any paperwork.

How to put a PA forward

1. Check the state and your trackConfirm the PA practices in a listed state and that your track's preceptor list leaves room for the exception.
2. Ask your CSC firstDescribe the PA's specialty, the setting and the hours you'd spend together. The case-by-case review starts here.
3. Protect your NP or CNM floorMap the term so your minimum hours with an NP or CNM come from other preceptors.
4. Send the packetIf your CSC agrees, complete your student section of the Preceptor Application, then the PA adds license, certification and experience details.

Credential questions, such as which certification the application should record for a PA, belong with your CSC; UC's general list of certifying bodies covers NP, midwifery and physician routes only. Preceptor requirements covers the standards every preceptor meets.