Your preceptor pulled out. Here is what comes next
A withdrawal leaves you with two jobs: protect the progress you have made, and bring a replacement through UofM's approvals without losing the term. Order matters more than speed in the first day or two. This page covers the opening moves, how the answer changes before and during a term, and how we find your replacement.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UofM program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UofM course.
The opening moves
- Tell your clinical faculty, in writingFaculty approve every clinical day at UofM, and an unapproved clinical absence means automatic failure of the course. Put the news in writing through your umMail account so each day that no longer happens is on record.
- Pause all clinical workHold off on any hours, even with a willing colleague at the same practice, until faculty approve the new arrangement.
- Talk to the departing preceptorAsk why they are leaving and whether a colleague could take over. Ask as well whether they can still give the evaluation input your faculty use, so completed work is fully documented.
- Write down where you standList the hours finished, the hours left, the weeks remaining in the term and the rotation rule this course was covering.
- Start the replacement searchBegin the same day. Every approval step that follows depends on having a named preceptor.
Before the term or partway through
The paperwork depends on when the withdrawal happens and whether you stay at the same practice. Use the table to see which steps apply to you, then confirm the details with your clinical faculty.
| Situation | What has to happen before hours resume |
|---|---|
| Withdrawal before the term begins | A new preceptor agreement form approved by the Office of Community Partnerships and Practice before your first clinical day, plus onboarding at the new site |
| Mid-term, a colleague at the same practice takes over | Faculty approval of the new preceptor and your revised schedule, with changes sent in writing; ask faculty whether a new agreement form is needed |
| Mid-term, a different site | Written approval from your clinical faculty and the clinical coordinator, an approved agreement for the new preceptor and cleared site onboarding |
Our backup preceptors guide lists every item a replacement has to clear, and the site changes guide quotes UofM's wording on approvals.
The rotation rule you inherit
A replacement has to cover whatever the departing preceptor was covering, and that is easy to overlook in a rush. If your only nurse practitioner preceptor is the one who left, the replacement may need to be an NP, because every UofM NP track requires at least one rotation precepted by a nurse practitioner. If you are an FNP student and the lost site was your family practice rotation, that requirement moves to the new site too.
Residency withdrawals carry extra weight. The FNP residency, NURS 7649, must be completed in family practice or internal medicine, and no course may be repeated during the residency semester. NP students may spend at most 60 residency hours in a specialty area, with the Track Coordinator's approval, so a specialty clinic alone cannot replace a primary care residency preceptor. The rotation rules guide covers each track.
Before you withdraw from anything
When a preceptor leaves late in the term, withdrawing can look like the clean answer. At UofM it is a decision to make slowly. An MSN student gets a single course withdrawal over the life of the plan, with more possible only if the Senior Associate Dean signs off together with the MSN Program Director, and clinical and didactic companion courses are taken, and repeated, together.
An Incomplete may be another route, at your faculty's discretion, but it carries its own clock under the Graduate School's policy. For Spring 2027, withdrawal with a W runs from February 2 to April 10 for the full term. Talk with your clinical faculty and your faculty advisor before choosing, and read our delayed graduation guide to see how each choice affects the rest of your plan.
How we replace a preceptor
A withdrawal is the moment our service is built for. The replacement search starts at once, aimed at clinicians near your home whose setting covers the same rotation rule the lost preceptor was meeting. Before you hear a name, the new preceptor has confirmed the remaining weeks and your schedule fits UofM's pacing rule.
We then prepare the new preceptor's license, certification and practice details for the agreement form, check the site's onboarding path in myClinicalExchange, and confirm that your Complio items stay valid through the new end date. UofM's faculty and the partnerships office make the approvals; the file they receive is complete and consistent with your track from the start. You also receive a revised schedule that steers clear of university breaks and holidays, ready for your clinical faculty.
Keeping it from happening twice
Many withdrawals start with a mismatch nobody named at the outset: fewer clinic days than the course needs, a practice change nobody expected, or a preceptor unsure what UofM asks of them. Confirm the preceptor's days for the whole term before the agreement form goes in, share the course's hour total and the seven-week minimum, and explain that clinical faculty will make a final visit that counts as your performance evaluation.
Keep a vetted second option in view as well. Describe where your current placement stands in the form at the bottom of this page or on the contact page; your placement advisor will identify a backup that fits the same course before you need it. A backup vetted during a calm week turns a future withdrawal into a short detour.
Questions UofM students ask
Who at UofM should hear about it first?
Your clinical faculty, because they approve your schedule and every clinical day and, with the clinical coordinator, any change of site. Your track coordinator also works with the Office of Community Partnerships and Practice on preceptor and site concerns, so copy them if your faculty suggest it. Use your UofM email, which the college treats as its formal channel.
Can a colleague of my preceptor simply take over?
Often that is the quickest fix, since the site and its onboarding may already be in place. The new clinician still needs faculty approval before you work together, and the agreement form is built around a specific preceptor's license and practice details, so ask your faculty whether a fresh form is required. We can prepare those details quickly.
What if my preceptor leaves during the residency?
The replacement has to satisfy the residency rules. For FNP students that means family practice or internal medicine, and every NP student is limited to 60 specialty hours in the residency with Track Coordinator approval. Because no course can be repeated during the residency semester, raise the problem with faculty immediately and keep the replacement search tightly focused.
Can you help if someone else arranged my first placement?
Yes. However the original placement came about, we start from where you stand now: the course, the hours finished, the weeks left and the rule the new preceptor must cover. Your placement advisor searches for a replacement that fits and prepares the details UofM reviews, so the approvals can start as soon as a clinician agrees.
Should I ask my old preceptor for a reference to someone new?
Yes, if the parting is friendly. A departing preceptor often knows colleagues who teach and can make a warm introduction that saves days. Pass any names to your placement advisor so they are checked against your course's setting and rotation rules, and against the site's own student process, before anyone commits.
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.