Can't find a preceptor for your Drexel clinical? Why searches stall and what to do this week

Drexel leaves the hunt for a clinical site and preceptor to its NP students. Every lead still has to pass Drexel's rules before it becomes a placement, and most dead ends trace back to one of these filters rather than to too few calls.

The usual culprits

• The wrong kind of clinician. Drexel's rules allow three kinds of preceptor: NPs, certified nurse midwives and physicians whose specialty Drexel approves, each with current board certification and a year or more of practice. Physician assistants aren't among them, so a willing PA is a lead that goes nowhere.
• A setting that doesn't match the course. AGACNP rotations need medical, surgical or critical care patients, AGPCNP runs through primary care and assisted living, and the pediatric and women's health tracks need those populations.
• A site that can't sign in time. Each site goes through Drexel's clinical contracting process, and some large systems take requests only from the school. Tower Health, for instance, reserves its rotation form for medical students.
• A location Drexel can't use. NP clinical hours can't happen in New York State, and Drexel can't admit NP students living in eleven states.
• Starting late. With no published request deadline, it's easy to begin a month out, after many practices have filled that term's student spots.

Treat the search as a short project with one task a day, each one narrowing the field to clinicians Drexel can approve.

1. Day 1: write down what the course needsNote the course number (NURS 534, NURS 570, NURS 592 and so on), its hours, the quarter it runs and the setting it calls for. Clinical hours by track has the 2026–27 catalog figures.
2. Day 2: work Dragon NetworkDrexel alumni and clinicians who flagged precepting as an interest can be reached there by message or video chat. Search by specialty and region and write to everyone who fits. More on Dragon Network.
3. Day 3: write to the clinical placement managerDrexel names this person as the contact for clinicians who want to teach its NP students. Send your track, course, quarter and town so a willing clinician near you can be pointed your way.
4. Day 4: go through your own networkNPs, midwives and physicians you've worked beside, and former instructors, are warmer leads than any cold list. Past Drexel students posting on allnurses recommend starting early and making cold calls, saying they work.
5. Day 5: follow up and keep a logTrack every practice, contact, date and answer in one sheet. Follow up once, then move on.

A busy clinician decides in about a minute, so lead with your Drexel track and course, its hours and weeks, the days you can be there and the patients you need to see.

Then tell them what the role involves. Drexel wants the preceptor's CV, license and proof of board certification, plus a midterm and a final evaluation of you and sign-off on your hours, all through E*Value. What the preceptor gets back: the right to call themselves Clinical Faculty, Drexel University during the rotation, a term-end certificate showing the hours they supervised, and 10 percent off Drexel's continuing education courses. Preceptor outreach goes further on what to send.

Drexel notes that clinical access differs by state and that travel may be part of the bargain. Looking one metro area over is often the quickest fix, since two clinical days a week can make a longer drive workable, as long as the new area still clears Drexel's filters.

• Pediatric students: Drexel strongly suggests holding Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware RN licenses, which opens up far more of the region around its campus. The Philadelphia sites page shows how the big systems there take NP students.
• Any state you add needs an RN license that covers clinical hours there, and it can't be New York.
• Other departments at your own employer can work, but check with your track director first: Drexel publishes no rule either way on precepting where you're employed.

If a couple of weeks of this hasn't produced a qualified yes, the filters are usually the problem, not your persistence. Ask your track director whether a different setting still fits the course, and check how close the quarter is. With the course only weeks off, switch to the triage in need a preceptor fast.

Finding someone is also only half the work. Drexel's sample plans put NUPR 520, the orientation on contracting and compliance, roughly three quarters ahead of the first clinical course, and Drexel warns that the Hepatitis B series may need as long as seven months.

Running this search for Drexel students is our everyday work, and we run it thoroughly. A placement advisor takes your track, course number, quarter and location and works the market for you, screening each candidate against Drexel's rules before anyone is approached. Every name you receive is an NP, CNM or physician in a fitting specialty, board certified and past a year in practice.

When a preceptor agrees, we gather the paperwork Drexel's contracts and compliance staff will want: the clinician's CV, license and board certificate, the name of whoever signs agreements for the site, and the site's own onboarding checklist. Drexel makes the approval decision; our part is handing it a submission with nothing missing. If a preceptor drops later, we're on call to replace them. Use the form on this page to start today.