Precepting a Drexel nursing student: what to expect

Drexel's Department of Advanced Practice Nursing takes three kinds of preceptor: nurse practitioners, certified nurse midwives, and physicians practicing in a specialty Drexel approves. Beyond that, you need whatever licensure and certification your state requires, active board certification and a minimum of one year in practice.

PAs fall outside that list. In Pennsylvania, the Board of Nursing's rule for CRNP programs (49 Pa. Code § 21.373) allows onsite preceptors who are licensed APNs, licensed physicians, or licensed and certified CRNPs, which sits comfortably with Drexel's own list.

Your specialty should match the student's course. FNP students need patients across the lifespan; adult-gerontology acute care students need medical, surgical or critical care; psychiatric, pediatric, women's health and emergency students each need their own population. Drexel's preceptor requirements covers the finer points.

Drexel asks each preceptor for three documents: a CV, your state license and proof of board certification. The student collects these from you, or our placement advisor does when we are arranging the placement.

Your practice or health system also enters a clinical affiliation agreement with Drexel through CNHP's clinical contracting process. The Contracts and Compliance team manages it, and Drexel's lawyers in the Office of General Counsel look over training agreements. From your side, the student needs the name and contact of whoever signs legal agreements for your organization, and whether it already has an agreement with Drexel or prefers to use its own contract.

Students in Drexel's healthcare programs carry professional liability coverage through a university self-insurance trust. If your site needs a certificate of coverage, Drexel's general counsel page says these are requested through the department administrator. The affiliation agreement page explains the contract in more depth.

Through the 2026–27 academic year Drexel runs ten-week quarters, and each clinical course pairs a didactic class with the clinical hours you supervise. Many courses carry 160 hours: the FNP sequence NURS 534 to NURS 537 is 160 each, with NURS 538 at 80, and each AGACNP course is 160. For AGACNP, Drexel describes a usual week as two clinical days of eight hours.

The calendar is changing. Summer 2027 shrinks to seven weeks as a one-off bridge term, and from Fall 2027 Drexel runs semesters with new course numbers such as NURS 7600. Semester hours per course are not yet published, so the student's syllabus is the best guide when you set clinic days.

During the term you keep in touch with the student's clinical faculty about progress. Several tracks bring students to campus for a few days at the start of summer for an On-Campus Intensive, so ask the student for those dates before you build the schedule.

Drexel uses E*Value for the preceptor's share of the paperwork. Each term you complete a midterm evaluation and a final evaluation of the student and validate the clinical hours the student logs.

Validation carries weight beyond the grade. The hours you confirm count toward the student's program total, 720 for FNP and 800 for AGACNP in the current catalog, and they are the basis of the certificate Drexel sends you at the end of each term. On-time evaluations keep the student's progression on time as well.

If E*Value is new to you, raise questions with the student's clinical faculty early in the term, well before the midterm evaluation falls due. Drexel's E*Value page explains the student side.

Drexel's preceptor page lists three forms of recognition:

• A faculty title. You may use the title “Clinical Faculty, Drexel University” while you serve as a preceptor.
• A record of your teaching. At the end of each term Drexel sends a Certificate of Appreciation showing the verified clinical hours you precepted.
• A continuing education discount. Preceptors receive a 10 percent discount on Drexel's continuing education programs.

Questions about anything beyond those three belong with Drexel's clinical placement manager, the contact Drexel names for clinicians who want to precept.

When we arrange a Drexel placement, we bring you a student whose course fits your practice and whose preceptor paperwork is organized from the start. Before the first clinic day you know the student's course, dates and total hours, you have a single placement advisor as your contact, and your office hears in advance what Drexel's contracting team will request.

To teach Drexel students through us, pick the option “I'm a preceptor (not a student)” when you fill in the form, and tell us your specialty, setting and county. Drexel also invites preceptors to join Dragon Network, its professional community for Drexel students and alumni, under the “Serving as a clinical preceptor” topic, or to contact its clinical placement manager directly. For anything else, contact the placement desk.