The UofM Family Nurse Practitioner MSN, practicum by practicum
UofM's Family Nurse Practitioner concentration is a 40-credit online MSN with three precepted practicums and at least 750 clinical hours, completed in person close to home. This guide maps the plan of study, the hour figures UofM's documents disagree on, and the term when a family practice preceptor has to be ready. However your UofM placement comes together, we bring you an FNP preceptor and site that fit the Loewenberg College of Nursing's rules.
Plan your FNP practicums
Tell us your start term, the town you live in and which FNP course comes next. A placement advisor replies with preceptors and sites that fit.
Forty credits in three blocks
The 2026-27 graduate catalog assembles the FNP concentration from three blocks. All five MSN concentrations share a four-course core, the three nurse practitioner tracks share an advanced practice core, and the final 18 credits belong to family practice alone.
| Block | Courses | Credits |
|---|---|---|
| MSN core | NURS 7021, 7022, 7023, 7024 | 12 |
| Advanced practice core | NURS 7101, 7102 (clinical lab), 7103, 7104 | 10 |
| FNP specialty | NURS 7641 through 7646, plus the NURS 7649 residency | 18 |
Every course is delivered online. Clinical hours are spent in person at practices near your home, and FNP students make a few short trips to campus as well: no more than three intensives, one to three days apiece, each posted at least six months early. UofM has made its January 2027 intensive mandatory in all three NP concentrations; the intensives guide has the specifics.
One UofM Global page describes the FNP as a 46-credit program. The catalog's own course list totals 40, and the catalog is the document to go by.
Three practicums and the 750-hour floor
The catalog puts the FNP clinical requirement at a minimum of 750 clock hours, and the current part-time plan splits that evenly across three courses. Each practicum runs in the same semester as its paired didactic courses.
| Course | Focus | Hours |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 7643 FNP I Acute Problems Practicum | Acute care of adults, older adults and children in a primary care setting | 250 |
| NURS 7646 FNP II Chronic Problems Practicum | Chronic conditions in a primary care setting | 250 |
| NURS 7649 FNP Roles and Transition to Practice Residency | Family practice or internal medicine setting | 250 |
UofM's paperwork does not all agree. The 2024 FNP plan, still linked from the college's program list, gives 250, 240 and 240 hours for a total of 730, and a graduate certificate plan shows 240 in each course, or 720. Treat the requirement as at least 750 and settle any doubt with the 2026-27 catalog, the LCON Academic Bulletin and your clinical faculty.
The NP hours guide sets the three totals side by side, and the FNP practicums page takes each course in turn.
When your first FNP preceptor has to be ready
UofM publishes a part-time FNP plan only: seven terms from a fall start, six from a spring start. No full-time FNP plan appears in its documents, and the college FAQ says the program typically takes two to three years.
Whichever term you begin, NURS 7643 falls in a spring semester. A fall starter meets it in term five, about 17 months in; a spring starter meets it in term four, about 12 months in. The health assessment lab, NURS 7102, comes one term earlier (the 2024 plan lists it at 30 lab hours), and the chronic care practicum follows in the summer term.
The preceptor agreement form has to be approved before your first clinical day, so a spring practicum means a family practice preceptor confirmed during the preceding fall. The first clinical course guide counts back from each start term.
What the FNP rotations have to include
The LCON Academic Bulletin sets rotation rules that narrow which preceptors can work for an FNP student. Plan all three courses together so each rule is covered somewhere.
- At least one rotation in a family practice setting.
- A nurse practitioner as preceptor for one rotation or more, so an all-physician lineup falls short.
- The residency,
NURS 7649, completed in family practice or internal medicine. - No more than 60 residency hours in a specialty area, and only with the Track Coordinator's prior approval.
The acute practicum's description names children alongside adults and older adults, so it pays to know whether a practice sees pediatric patients before counting on it for NURS 7643. Going back to a site from an earlier FNP course is permitted for the residency. The complete rule set lives on the preceptor and rotation rules page.
Rules that shape every FNP semester
A handful of UofM rules apply in each practicum term. Each has its own guide on this site, so here they are in brief.
- Practicum courses require a B or better, and a practicum is taken and passed with its didactic companions:
NURS 7641andNURS 7642travel withNURS 7643. Repeat one and you repeat both (grades and progression). - Clinical faculty need your planned clinical days by the second Monday of the semester, and any later change needs written notice seven days out.
- A course's hours take seven weeks at the least, with no clinical days on university breaks or holidays unless faculty arrange them.
- Hours at your current employer need compelling circumstances plus approval from faculty and program administration.
- An unapproved absence from clinical means automatic failure of the course.
Admission points that follow you into clinicals
The MSN application asks for a 3.0 undergraduate GPA, a passed NCLEX-RN, three credits of undergraduate statistics and a resume or CV showing current or recent clinical nursing practice. Applicants between 2.75 and 2.99 may take two graduate courses first and are admitted once they earn a B or better.
Two admission rules stay with you through the practicums. The RN license has to remain unrestricted and valid in Tennessee or in whichever approved state hosts your clinicals. And California sits outside LCON's distance education authorization, so moving there mid-program means completing the remaining work in Tennessee or another authorized state, or leaving the program. UofM's documents disagree on which other states qualify; the state authorization page sets out the conflict.
Fall applications close on July 1 and spring applications on December 1, and the whole MSN has to be completed inside five calendar years.
Why UofM FNP students choose us
We are specialists in UofM's clinical process, and FNP placements are where that pays off most. For each of your three courses we search your area, confirm the fit and hand you a finished plan.
- Primary care practices for
NURS 7643andNURS 7646that see the patient mix each course describes, children included. - A nurse practitioner preceptor built into the plan early, so the NP rule is settled long before the residency.
- A residency in family practice or internal medicine, arranged with the 60-hour specialty cap in mind.
- Everything the agreement form asks about your preceptor, from license and board certification to practice details, gathered with the site's information, plus your Complio and myClinicalExchange items checked.
- A replacement search the moment a preceptor drops, so your seven-week minimum stays within reach.
Approval of every FNP preceptor and site belongs to your clinical faculty and to UofM's Office of Community Partnerships and Practice. We hand them a file with nothing missing and nothing out of step with LCON policy. Send your start term and town through the form below, or see how it works.
Questions UofM students ask
Is the University of Memphis FNP program fully online?
The coursework is. Your clinical hours are completed face to face with a preceptor somewhere near home, and you will visit campus for as many as three brief intensives over the program, each one to three days long. Dates go up at least six months in advance, and FNP students are expected at the January 2027 session.
How many years does the UofM MSN FNP take part time?
The published part-time plan runs seven terms from a fall start and six from a spring start, with summer terms included, so the plan itself spans a little over two years. UofM's FAQ gives two to three years as typical. Whatever your pace, every MSN requirement has to be completed within five calendar years.
Can a UofM FNP student train under a physician preceptor?
The Academic Bulletin requires at least one FNP rotation with a nurse practitioner preceptor and at least one in a family practice setting. It does not publish further preceptor qualifications, such as years in practice, so check any physician preceptor with your clinical faculty before the agreement form goes in. We confirm those details for every preceptor we propose.
Does the FNP residency have to be in family practice?
It has to be in family practice or internal medicine. NP students may spend up to 60 hours of that final semester in a specialty area, but only with the Track Coordinator's approval in advance. Returning to a practice where you trained in an earlier course is fine for this final one.
What happens if my FNP preceptor backs out right before the semester?
Switching sites takes written sign-off from two people, your clinical faculty member and the clinical coordinator, and the replacement preceptor's agreement must clear review before any hours count. Moving quickly matters because a course's hours cannot be squeezed into fewer than seven weeks. We start the replacement search the day you tell us.
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.