UC PMHNP internships: therapy first, prescribing after

The three PMHNP internships

The internships follow a fixed order: therapy skills first, then diagnosis and prescribing, then bringing the whole role together. The course numbers and hours below come from UC's 2026 PMHNP clinical requirements sheets for the DNP and the certificate.

The sheets list each internship at 1 credit. We reached 504 by adding UC's per-course hours; the sheets state the per-course figures and the age-group minimums rather than a program total.

Internship I: a therapist, not a prescriber

ANPS8028 is built around psychotherapy, so UC wants a preceptor whose practice is therapy: a licensed therapist holding a master's or higher, for example a psychologist, a counselor or a clinical social worker. PMHNPs and psychiatrists do not qualify for this internship, a detail that is easy to miss if you expect any psychiatric clinician to count.

California is the exception. Students there need an Internship I preceptor who is a clinical psychologist, an NP, a physician, or a psychiatrist the program director has approved.

A therapist who hasn't worked with NP students before can read UC's preceptor materials before agreeing. UC preceptor outreach covers what to send and how UC suggests you ask.

Internships II and III: prescribers only

From ANPS8030 on, the preceptor must hold prescribing privileges: a board-certified PMHNP (PMHNP-BC), a psychiatric CNS with PMHCNS-BC, or a psychiatrist who is board-certified or board-eligible. These two internships cover psychiatric diagnosis and medication management, then synthesis of the full role.

Telepsychiatry is allowed in both. UC's broader telehealth rules still apply: telehealth hours need program director approval case by case, PMHNP students may join by live video from a remote location, and you can't join from a public space. Telehealth clinical hours explains the license rule for remote visits.

Because the preceptor type changes after Internship I, most students need at least two separate searches. We run both, in that order, and your Clinical Site Coordinator (CSC) approves each preceptor.

Age-group hours

UC sets a 100-hour floor for each of three age bands, counted over all three internships. The rest of your time can go wherever your preceptors' patients fall.

That commits 300 of your 504 hours before you choose anything else. Ask each preceptor about the ages on their caseload before they apply, and total your hours by age group in eMedley at the end of every term, so a gap shows up while you still have internships left to close it. The minimums count across all three internships, so pediatric or geriatric therapy hours in ANPS8028 help too.

Preceptor count and weekly pace

The PMHNP sheets set their own preceptor rules on top of UC's college-wide ones.

• 40 hours or more with each preceptor.
• Two preceptors per semester at most.
• At least three preceptors before you graduate. The switch from a therapist to a prescriber after Internship I gets you partway there.
• About 12 hours a week on average, by UC's estimate.
• Going over the required hours in Internship I or II needs the program director's approval.

Two preceptors in one term can help with the age mix, for example a child-focused prescriber alongside an adult practice, as long as each reaches 40 hours with you. Hours count only inside semester dates, and every internship needs a secured site before week 2 is over. The PMHNP preceptor page covers the search itself.

Which course numbers are right

UC's documents disagree on the internship numbers. The clinical requirements sheets list ANPS8028, ANPS8030 and ANPS8032 at 1 credit and 168 hours each. UC's curriculum guide for the PMHNP DNP lists ANPS8020, ANPS8022 and ANPS8024, Psychiatric Nursing NP Practicum I to III, at 3 credits each in semesters 6 to 8.

This page uses the requirements-sheet numbers because that sheet carries the hour and preceptor rules. Before you register, confirm with your CSC or advisor which numbers you'll see in Catalyst, and make sure your preceptor paperwork names the course you are actually taking. If your plan of study shows the 3-credit numbers, ask whether the requirements sheet's hour and preceptor rules still apply as written.

Certificate students and the virtual intensive

Post-master's certificate students take the same three internships under the same hour, age-group and preceptor rules, after didactic courses such as ANPS8003, ANPS8005, ANPS8013 and ANPS8014. UC advertises a finish in as little as 16 months. First-semester certificate students also attend a mandatory two-day livestreamed intensive around week 6; the Fall 2026 session is set for September 30 and October 1. Every scheduled date through 2028 is on UC's immersions and intensives page.

Certificate students in Washington should check with UC first. The state authorizes UC's certificate programs, yet PMHNP is missing from the Washington Nursing Commission approval list that UC posts, and UC's DNP programs aren't authorized there at all.