Clarkson College FNP clinical sites: what qualifies

The core test: all ages, outpatient, primary care

Clarkson's November 2023 FNP clinical sheet described the FNP site in a single line: outpatient primary care clinics and rural health clinics, where the student sees patients across all ages. Physicians (MD or DO), PAs and NPs can all precept. The 2026-27 catalog frames the FNP courses around primary care across the lifespan, and each site still needs approval before you register.

Two exclusions came with that line. Hospitalist hours do not count for FNP students, so a hospital medicine service is off the table even when the physician is an internist. Aesthetic dermatology was not accepted as a specialty, so cosmetic practices cannot supply specialty hours.

The rest of this guide narrows the field from there: which course needs which provider, how much specialty time each course allows, and which visits each course counts.

Specialty and observation hours

Specialty hours are time with a specialty provider rather than your primary care preceptor, such as a specialist who sees children during NRS 840. Faculty must approve them, the specialty preceptor signs an agreement of their own, and the hours end at the course's cap: none listed for the first two courses, then 50, 40 and 56.

Observation hours are a separate allowance. From the second course onward, the FNP sheet let you add as many as ten watch-only hours a course, cleared with faculty beforehand, recorded in Typhon and needing no DocuSign form. They suit a short look at a service your main site does not offer.

One timing rule links the two kinds of preceptor. If a specialty preceptor's paperwork is ready on the first day and your main preceptor's is not, the sheet told students to contact course faculty before logging hours.

Preceptor rules that can rule out a good site

A clinic can fit the setting and still fail on the preceptor. Clarkson's November 2023 sheets set these conditions for every NP track, FNP included.

• A license in your clinical state and two years or more of experience, a rule the sheets marked "no exceptions"
• Not a family member; hours with a relative do not count
• A PA preceptor only outside Florida, Oklahoma, Arizona and Maryland
• No more than two preceptors in a course without written faculty approval
• Signed paperwork for each clinician whose patients you see, practice partners too
• If you work for the organization, a department other than your own

The agreement also needs the practice's exact legal name, including any "Inc.", "LLP" or d/b/a. The preceptor requirements guide and who cannot precept you cover each rule in depth.

How we match Clarkson FNP students to sites

Clarkson FNP students choose us because we screen every site against Clarkson's own FNP rules before a name reaches you. We confirm the clinic sees all ages, that the preceptor has the license and experience Clarkson asks for, that no exclusion applies, and that the visit mix can produce the counts each course requires.

We plan the five courses as one sequence: an all-ages home clinic for the primary healthcare courses, a pediatric primary care provider for NRS 840, a qualifying women's health provider for NRS 842, and specialty blocks sized inside each cap. Each site's details arrive ready for the DocuSign agreement, with a flag on any site that will need a new affiliation agreement, so the paperwork clock is visible from the start. Start with the form below.