Planning UofM clinicals in Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania's nursing code already has a door for visiting graduate students, section 21.118, which lets a nurse licensed elsewhere complete required clinical work in the state. Multistate licenses have also counted there since July 2025. The unanswered part belongs to UofM: Pennsylvania is absent from the partnerships office's list of 16 while the licensure disclosures mark it yes.
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Section 21.118: a clause built for visiting students
Title 49 of the Pennsylvania Code, at section 21.118, speaks to nurses whose RN license was issued outside Pennsylvania, in another U.S. jurisdiction or in Canada, and who are enrolled in accredited nursing study at the BSN or graduate level. They may give the nursing care their program's clinical courses require without holding Pennsylvania's own license, provided they draw no pay for that work, stipends, scholarships and program awards excepted.
UofM's MSN and post-graduate APRN certificates hold CCNE accreditation running to June 2030 (accreditation). A paying RN job is outside the clause. Someone licensed in another state who wants Pennsylvania nursing employment during the program applies for licensure through endorsement, working under a short-term permit until it issues, unless a multistate license already covers the job.
The compact, and a quiet Board on outside programs
Pennsylvania completed its compact rollout on July 7, 2025, so a clear multistate license now works there, and Tennessee belongs to the same compact. UofM's license rule points to Tennessee or to the approved state where you train, and one multistate license can answer both, though whether Pennsylvania counts as approved is LCON's to say (license rules).
Nothing located in the Board's regulations or web guidance makes an out-of-state or distance school seek approval before its students train in Pennsylvania. The Board's distance-education form exists, yet it applies only to programs on its own approved roster. A sweeping education rulemaking, #16A-5141, went to the IRRC in final form in early September 2026 for an October 15 meeting, and its final text leaves section 21.118 largely as it stands.
How UofM's sources treat a Pennsylvania address
| Program | Pennsylvania in UofM's sources | Next move |
|---|---|---|
| MSN: FNP, AG-ACNP or PMHNP | Missing from the 16-state list; MSN disclosure says yes | Written answer from LCON |
| NP graduate certificates | Certificate disclosure says yes | Same question |
| Nursing Education or Leadership | Not one of the 16 states | Ask LCON |
| RN to BSN, online | Only California residents excluded | Confirm with UofM Global |
| Traditional or Accelerated BSN | Taught on campus in Tennessee | Not a distance option |
UofM Global adds a third voice, pointing to NC-SARA reach across 49 states minus California, and the graduate residency page leaves each student living beyond Tennessee to weigh the program against their own state's advanced licensure rules. Every version appears in the state authorization guide.
Reduced practice, and where Pennsylvanians train
AANP files Pennsylvania under reduced practice. NPs there work under a career-long written agreement with physicians, and prescriptive authority depends on signed collaboration with two physicians or more. UofM's rules still set your search: one or more NP-precepted rotations in each NP track, and for the FNP a family practice rotation plus a family practice or internal medicine residency (FNP program).
Practicums take place in person near home. The 2025 Census estimates count roughly 4.24 million Pennsylvanians in the Philadelphia metro and 2.42 million in Pittsburgh's, with the Lehigh Valley and Harrisburg-Carlisle next. UPMC is one large system in the state; Geisinger, Penn Medicine, Penn State Health and Jefferson Health are others. They are named for scale, with no suggestion that any of them hosts UofM students.
Why Pennsylvania students pick Memphis Preceptor
UofM's role in your placement may be large or small; either way, our desk locates a Pennsylvania preceptor and site close to home that satisfy its rules. We check the preceptor's license and certification, assemble everything the preceptor agreement form asks about well before the term, and, should a preceptor drop out midway, begin lining up the next one immediately (backup preceptors).
Questions UofM students ask
Is a Pennsylvania license required for my UofM practicum hours there?
Not under section 21.118, which covers nurses licensed in another U.S. jurisdiction who train in the required clinical settings of an accredited graduate program without pay beyond stipends or scholarships. A multistate license has also carried practice privileges in Pennsylvania since July 2025. LCON decides which license it expects, so confirm before your first practicum.
Does the Pennsylvania Board approve out-of-state NP programs?
No approval step for out-of-state or distance programs whose students train in Pennsylvania turns up in its regulations or web guidance. The distance-education application is reserved for Board-approved programs. Watch rulemaking #16A-5141, whose final text keeps the visiting-student clause largely unchanged.
Is Pennsylvania one of UofM's authorized states?
Pennsylvania is missing from the partnerships office's list of 16. The MSN and certificate licensure disclosures nonetheless say the NP tracks meet Pennsylvania's requirements, and UofM Global points to NC-SARA. With UofM's sources split, get a clear answer from LCON before you apply.
Can I keep working RN shifts in Pennsylvania during UofM clinicals?
Paid work sits outside section 21.118. A nurse licensed in another state who wants a Pennsylvania RN job must apply for licensure by endorsement in Pennsylvania, with a short-term permit to bridge the wait, or rely on a multistate license. UofM separately restricts practicum hours at your own employer unless compelling circumstances prevail (workplace clinicals).
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
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