UC preceptor requirements: who can supervise your clinical hours
A UC preceptor needs a master's degree or higher, a certification UC accepts, at least a year in the advanced practice role and an active, unencumbered license in the state where you train. Layered on top are share-of-hours rules (20% with an NP in your population for NP tracks, 50% with a CNM or CM for midwifery), a list of who qualifies on each track, and conflict rules that bar relatives.
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1 yrminimum time in the advanced practice role
20%of NP-track hours with a certified NP in your population
50%of nurse-midwifery hours with a CNM or CM
The baseline every UC preceptor meets
UC's May 2026 Preceptor Guide sets four conditions that apply across the graduate NP and midwifery tracks. Your CSC checks each one when the Preceptor Application arrives, so confirm them in your first conversation rather than after the packet is in.
- Education: a master's degree or higher. UC's preceptor pages put the floor at an MSN plus a year of practice and say the college follows NONPF preceptor guidelines.
- Certification: current certification in their field from a body UC accepts (see the table below). Physicians qualify with an MD or DO and relevant expertise.
- Experience: at least one year working in the advanced practice role.
- License: active and unencumbered in the state where your clinical happens. A license with past discipline gets a case-by-case review, and the handbook bars supervision by anyone whose license carries a current restriction.
UC's Preceptor Guide also defers to state law: if a state's regulators impose added preceptor qualifications or restrictions, those win over UC policy. Leadership and administration preceptors follow a separate standard: an MSN, or a BSN paired with a related master's (an MBA or MHA, for example), held by someone at least one administrative level above you.
Certifications UC accepts
| Preceptor | Accepted certification |
|---|---|
| Nurse practitioner | ANCC, AANPCB, PNCB or AACN |
| Women's health NP | NCC |
| Certified nurse-midwife | AMCB |
| Physician | MD or DO with expertise relevant to the course |
A certificate on the wall isn't the whole test. UC also asks whether the preceptor's population focus lines up with your track, and it builds that into the hour-share rule below. When you ask a clinician about their credential, ask which body issued it and for which population, since that is what the Preceptor Application records. Physicians need no nursing certification, but the setting still counts: the FNP track, for example, accepts physicians only in primary care. Licensed midwives and certified professional midwives (LM and CPM) aren't on UC's list, so they can't precept FNP or midwifery students.
The share of hours with an NP or CNM
UC's Clinical Planning page sets a floor for every NP track: at least 20% of your clinical hours must be spent with a certified NP in the same population focus as your program. Nurse-midwifery sets the bar higher, with at least 50% of hours under a CNM or CM.
Some tracks turn that into hour counts. FNP students need 150 or more of their 672 hours with an NP or CNM, and students who already practice as NPs are exempt from that count. AGPCNP students need at least 100 hours with an NP, and AGACNP students at least 100 of their 504.
Physicians can cover the remaining time where your track allows them, so work out the mix before you commit to a practice staffed only by physicians. The UC clinical hours page has the per-course totals to plan against.
Who qualifies, track by track
| Track | Who may precept | Limits UC adds |
|---|---|---|
| FNP | NP, FNP, CNM, WHNP, or MD/DO in primary care | No CNSs and no CPM, LM or CM holders; at least 60 hours per preceptor; at least 3 preceptors (2 for practicing NPs in the certificate) |
| AGPCNP | NP, MD or DO | Outpatient only; at least 80 hours per preceptor; at least 3 preceptors; at most 2 a semester |
| AGACNP | NP (preferred), MD or DO | At least 80 hours per preceptor; not one preceptor for all three semesters |
| PMHNP | Internship I: master's-level licensed psychotherapy providers. Internships II and III: PMHNP-BC, PMHCNS-BC, or a board-certified or board-eligible psychiatrist | PMHNPs and psychiatrists don't qualify for Internship I; at least 40 hours per preceptor; at most 2 a semester |
| Nurse-Midwifery | CNM or CM, OB/GYN, family practice physician, or NP by course | No LM or CPM holders; anyone you spend 8 or more hours with submits a full application |
| WHNP | WHNP, CNM, OB/GYN MD or DO, or OB/GYN FNP; other NPs for ANW8006 | A preceptor in your own department needs program director approval and is discouraged |
| PNP Acute Care | PNP, MD or DO, or a pediatric-focused FNP | Primary care hours come first in ANPC8020 |
| Neonatal NP | NNP, PNP, pediatrician or neonatologist | No relatives and not your own department |
California changes one PMHNP rule: there, an Internship I preceptor must be an NP, a physician, a psychiatrist with program director approval, or a clinical psychologist. Your track's clinical requirements PDF on the Clinical Planning page is the final word, and the program pages here, such as the FNP preceptor page, go further into each track.
Physicians and physician assistants
Physicians appear on every NP track in the table, and on several they are the main alternative to an NP. The constraint is the hour-share rule: a plan built mostly on physicians can leave you short of the NP time your track demands.
Physician assistants are a narrower case. UC's Clinical Planning page allows PA preceptors only in Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Carolina and Texas, and even there case by case for limited hours. Midwifery students may spend at most 20 hours with a PA, in ANW8006, with program director approval.
The Preceptor Guide's copy of that state list leaves out South Carolina, so check with your CSC before relying on a PA there. Ohio and Indiana are on neither list; Kentucky is on both. The physician assistant preceptor page covers the details.
Conflicts that rule a preceptor out
Across all tracks, UC won't accept a relative as your preceptor, and the FNP documents spell out that family by marriage counts. Nor can you train in a clinic or unit that employs you, or where you practice as an APRN, except where your track permits it and the program director signs off.
Employer rules then split by track. AGPCNP students may not use their employer as a site at all. FNP students may train at their employer, but not in their own department or under someone who supervises them. Midwifery students may train where they work with the signed "Precepting in the Setting Where You Work" plan, and some PNP-AC students may train on their own unit. The employer clinical site page goes through each case.
One last rule sits outside the preceptor's control: no clinical hours count at a site without a site agreement, however well qualified the person supervising you.
A preceptor who meets every credential rule can still be turned down for a conflict: a relative, your boss, or your own department on a track that bars it. Screen for conflicts before you ask, not after the packet is filed.
Questions UC students ask
Can a physician precept a UC nurse practitioner student?
Yes. UC accepts MDs and DOs with relevant expertise on every NP track, and the FNP documents name primary-care physicians specifically. The limit is the share-of-hours rule: at least a fifth of your hours must be spent with a certified NP who shares your population focus, and FNP, AGPCNP and AGACNP set NP-hour minimums of their own on top of that.
Does my UC preceptor need a license in the state where I train?
Yes. The preceptor needs an active, unencumbered license in the state where the clinical takes place, which may not be the state you live in. You need your own RN license there as well; see RN licensure for clinicals. If that state's board adds preceptor rules, UC's Preceptor Guide says they take priority over UC policy.
Can a clinical nurse specialist precept at UC?
Not for FNP students, whose documents rule CNSs out. The other NP track documents UC publishes name NPs, midwives and physicians rather than CNSs, so ask your CSC before approaching a CNS for any NP track. The named exception is PMHNP Internships II and III, where a PMHCNS-BC holder qualifies.
What if my preceptor has less than a year of experience?
UC requires at least a year in the advanced practice role, so a newer clinician won't pass vetting yet. If they are close to the one-year mark, ask your CSC whether they could qualify for a later term instead of filing early and hoping. Otherwise, ask whether a colleague in the same practice meets the rule.
Do UC preceptors get paid?
UC doesn't pay preceptors. The college offers continuing-education webinars and runs yearly preceptor awards. Some sites charge administrative fees, which go to the site rather than the preceptor. UC's suggested interview questions include asking a preceptor directly whether they charge a fee and what their refund terms would be.
Related pages
Physician assistant preceptorsUC lets physician assistants precept NP students only in listed states, case by case and for limited hours. The state list, the midwifery cap, what to check.Clinicals at your employerCan you do UC clinicals at your employer? AGPCNP students can't, FNP students can outside their own department, and midwifery needs a signed workplace plan.UC Preceptor ApplicationHow UC's Preceptor Application works: your student section first, what the preceptor fills in, when a CV is required, and which address the packet goes to.Preceptor not approvedUC turned down your preceptor or site. The rules that most often sink a UC approval, track by track, and how to repair or replace before the next deadline.Clinical hours by UC trackEvery UC College of Nursing track's clinical courses and hours in one table, 504 to 840 per track, plus the term-date, week-2 and NP-supervision rules.For preceptorsAsked to precept a University of Cincinnati nursing student? What UC asks of you, the application, eMedley, the site agreement and what UC offers in return.
Last checked 2026-09-24
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