The UofM clinical placement process, from admission to residency
A University of Memphis MSN practicum passes a fixed series of checkpoints: health and compliance items in Complio, a preceptor and site that satisfy your track's rotation rules, an approved preceptor agreement form, site clearance in myClinicalExchange, and a schedule your clinical faculty signs off on. Whatever role UofM plays in your placement, our placement desk secures a preceptor and site that pass those rules and assembles the details well before your term opens.
Get a preceptor matched to UofM's process
Tell us your track, your first practicum term and the city you live in.
What UofM publishes, and what it leaves unsaid
The Loewenberg College of Nursing sets out its graduate clinical rules in the 2026-27 LCON Academic Bulletin: which paperwork comes first, who signs off on each step, where hours may happen and how quickly they may be finished. The 2026-27 graduate catalog adds a description for every practicum course, and each track's plan of study fixes the term in which each practicum falls.
One thing those pages do not describe is who arranges the preceptor and site for MSN and graduate certificate students. The Bulletin details approvals and limits rather than the matching itself. The bachelor's programs work differently, and UofM says so plainly: it assigns Traditional and Accelerated BSN students to clinical placements, weighing open sites, faculty and enrollment.
For graduate questions the Bulletin leaves open, go to your track coordinator, your clinical faculty and your track's advising site, where UofM holds students responsible for every posted item. With or without help from UofM on the match, our searchers track down a preceptor and site built to clear every one of its rules.
The path, checkpoint by checkpoint
Here is the order a UofM MSN or certificate practicum follows, drawn from the Bulletin, the catalog and the plans of study.
- Open your Complio account after admissionEvery admitted LCON student buys a DISA Complio account. Immunizations, TB results, AHA BLS, the annual background check and each drug screen are uploaded and tracked there. More in Complio compliance.
- Find your first practicum termFor all three NP tracks, the first precepted practicum falls in a Spring semester. On the full-time Nursing Leadership plan, immersion hours start in term one, so the clock runs from admission.
- Match the track with the right preceptor and siteThe pairing must pass the rotation rules. Each NP track needs a nurse practitioner as preceptor somewhere in the sequence, FNP students need family practice time, acute care students need a preceptor with inpatient practice, and PMHNP courses move between outpatient and inpatient psychiatry.
- Have the preceptor agreement form approvedSign-off comes from LCON's partnerships office, and it has to be in hand before clinical day one. The guide to the preceptor agreement form covers the rule and how the approver changed.
- Clear the site in myClinicalExchangeOnce a site is set, HealthStream myClinicalExchange holds its orientation modules, uploads and status. UofM grants site approval only after the last required item is accepted, and renewal dates must outlast the placement.
- Send your schedule by Monday of week twoYour clinical faculty must approve it, and no clinical day comes before their approval. Adjustments later in the term need seven days' written notice.
- Spread the hours over seven weeks or moreSeven weeks is the floor for any course's clinical hours. University breaks and holidays are excluded too, apart from days that program faculty and administration set up.
- Pass the final visit and the courseYour clinical faculty's final visit doubles as a clinical performance evaluation. Faculty and preceptor each have to find you competent, and every practicum course requires a B or better.
Who signs off at each step
| Step | Approver | UofM's condition |
|---|---|---|
| Preceptor agreement form | Office of Community Partnerships and Practice | Approved before the first clinical day |
| Clinical site clearance | Tracked in myClinicalExchange | Granted only after all training and documents are accepted |
| Clinical schedule | Clinical faculty | Received by Monday of the semester's second week |
| Schedule change | Clinical faculty | Sent in writing one week before it takes effect |
| Move to a new clinical site | Clinical faculty and the clinical coordinator | Written approval from both |
| Hours where you are employed | Faculty and program administration | Allowed only in compelling circumstances, with documentation |
| Specialty hours in the NP residency | Track coordinator | No more than 60, approved beforehand |
One title in that table has no public definition. The Bulletin names a graduate clinical coordinator for site changes without saying which office holds the role, so ask your clinical faculty who fills it for your course.
Timing: work backward from your first practicum
Counting from admission, a Spring starter reaches that first NP practicum after about twelve months and a Fall starter after about seventeen. A student aiming at a Spring 2027 practicum should have a preceptor and site settled during Fall 2026. The first clinical course guide shows the term for each program.
UofM posts no due date for the preceptor agreement form, only that approval must come before day one. Other clocks run alongside it. The drug screen counts only if taken in the 30 days leading into a fall or spring practicum, Complio and myClinicalExchange documents must stay current past the placement's last day, and some health systems work on long lead times, with Baptist Memorial requesting graduate preceptorship applications a full three months ahead of the start date.
Practicums also happen near where you live rather than on campus, so the search runs in your own city and county. Practicums near where you live explains what that means in Tennessee, the Mississippi and Arkansas suburbs and other states.
Where UofM practicums tend to stall
Common sticking points
- A preceptor whose setting misses a track rule, such as an FNP residency outside family practice or internal medicine.
- A Complio or myClinicalExchange item that runs out mid-placement, which turns any day missed because of it into an unexcused absence.
- A drug screen taken too early to land inside the 30-day window before the practicum.
- Hours packed into fewer than seven weeks to recover from a late start.
- A preceptor at the hospital or clinic that currently employs you, which needs faculty and program administration approval first.
- A clinical day worked before the schedule was approved.
An approved schedule matters as much as an approved preceptor. Working a clinical day before your clinical faculty has signed off can cost you the course.
Where we fit: why UofM students choose us
Our process follows UofM's own sequence. We search your city and county for a preceptor and site that match your course and track rules, then collect the preceptor's license, certification and practice setting along with the site's particulars, so the preceptor agreement form can be completed in one pass. We compare every Complio and myClinicalExchange expiration date with the placement calendar so nothing lapses mid-rotation.
We start early enough for a Spring practicum, draft a schedule with the preceptor that clears the seven-week minimum and skips university breaks, and remain available all term. Should a preceptor leave, we line up a replacement and assemble what your clinical faculty and the clinical coordinator need for their written sign-off. Final approval rests with UofM, clinical faculty for schedules and site moves and the partnerships office for the agreement, and every file we prepare is built to satisfy them on first review. Read how it works or send your details through the form below.
Questions UofM students ask
Does UofM say who finds preceptors for MSN students?
Not on its public pages. The 2026-27 Academic Bulletin, the graduate catalog and the MSN program pages set rules and approvals for graduate clinicals but do not state who arranges the match. Your track coordinator and your track's advising site are the places to ask. Either way, our placement desk locates a preceptor and site built to pass UofM's approvals.
How do BSN clinical placements work at UofM?
UofM assigns them. BSN students are placed based on site availability, faculty resources, enrollment and the number of students needing placement, and the Bulletin says practicum assignment changes cannot be requested. Its BSN clinical sites span West Tennessee and North Mississippi. The MSN and graduate certificates follow separate graduate clinical policies.
When should I start preparing for a Spring practicum?
Treat the fall before it as your working window. UofM publishes no agreement deadline, but approval must come before your first clinical day, the drug screen has a 30-day window before the term, and some health systems ask for applications about three months ahead. Starting in early fall leaves room for all three.
Can I finish my practicum hours faster than seven weeks?
No. UofM sets seven weeks as the shortest span for any course's clinical hours, however many hours the course carries. University breaks and holidays are also excluded unless program faculty and administration arrange otherwise, so a late start shortens the weeks you actually have.
What if my clinical site changes after the term starts?
Moving sites takes written sign-off from two people, your clinical faculty and the clinical coordinator. No published graduate rule sets a timeline for finding a replacement, so bring the problem to your clinical faculty as early as you can. The schedule and site changes guide walks through each approval.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-27
We check these pages against UofM's 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your clinical faculty and your plan of study have the final word.
Whether UofM helps or you start alone, we find the preceptor.
Tell us your UofM concentration, your next practicum and the town you train near. We find preceptors and sites that fit the course and prepare what the preceptor agreement form needs, early enough for approval before the first clinical day.
- Preceptors matched to the rotation rules: an NP preceptor, family practice for FNP, inpatient and critical care for AG-ACNP
- License, certification and site details ready for the preceptor agreement form, with your Complio items in order
- Across the Mid-South, Tennessee and the states UofM serves
Start your placement plan
Your concentration, your town and your next clinical semester is all we need to begin.