Your first UNCW clinical semester, plan by plan
On UNCW's full-time NP plans, the first practicum is semester 5, in the spring of the second year. Part-time plans push it later: semester 8 for FNP, 10 for PMHNP and 11 for AGPCNP. Because UNCW's process chart starts the preceptor search as much as a year ahead, full-time NP students should begin looking during their first year, long before a clinical course appears on their schedule.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your UNCW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your UNCW course.
First practicum by UNCW plan of study
UNCW's plan-of-study pages fix the semester in which each program's first clinical course falls. Semesters count from your first fall, and the DNP plans run fall, spring and summer each year.
| Program and plan | First clinical course | When |
|---|---|---|
| FNP, full-time | NSGL 650 | Semester 5, spring of year 2 |
| FNP, part-time | NSGL 650 | Semester 8, spring of year 3 |
| AGPCNP, full-time | NSGL 660 | Semester 5, spring of year 2 |
| AGPCNP, part-time | NSGL 660 | Semester 11, spring of year 4 |
| PMHNP (BSN-DNP), full-time | NSGL 646 | Semester 5, spring of year 2 |
| PMHNP (BSN-DNP), part-time | NSGL 646 | Semester 10, fall of year 4 |
| PMHNP MSN-DNP pathway and Post-Doctoral Certificate | NSGL 646 | Plan not published |
| MSN Nurse Educator, new curriculum | NSG 588, then NSG 589 | Full-time: semester 4, session 7; part-time: the final two sessions |
| MSN Nurse Educator, earlier cohorts | NSG 596, then NSG 597 | The final two sessions before graduation |
| Nurse Educator certificate, new | NSG 588 | Semester 2, session 4 |
| Post APRN and Nurse Executive Leadership | No practicum; NSGL 696 starts the project | Full-time: semester 3, summer of year 1; part-time: semester 6, summer of year 2 |
| BSN Prelicensure | NSG 302 with the NSG 300 lab | First nursing semester, semester 5 of the 8-semester plan |
| Accelerated BSN | NSG 302 with the NSG 300 lab | Semester 1, the opening summer |
| RN-BSN | No clinical course | Practice experiences sit inside online courses |
If you entered before the 2025-26 catalog, your NP courses may carry older numbers; the curriculum transition page explains how to check.
After the first practicum, the rest follow fast
On the full-time NP plans, the four practica follow one another with no break: spring of year 2, summer of year 2, fall of year 3 and spring of year 3. The part-time plans spread them out with a gap. Part-time FNP takes NSGL 650 in spring of year 3, NSGL 651 that summer, NSGL 652 in fall of year 4 and NSGL 653 in spring of year 5, with no practicum in spring of year 4. Part-time PMHNP also skips spring of year 4, and part-time AGPCNP fits all four practica between spring of year 4 and spring of year 5.
For placement, that means the search never really pauses once clinicals begin. On a full-time plan, the submission deadline for your summer practicum arrives in the middle of your spring practicum. A site willing to keep you for two or more courses saves a search; UNCW allows one site for the whole program except for PMHNP students, and the rules are on preceptors per course.
The 600 RN-hours rule comes first
Before any clinical course in UNCW's BSN-DNP, you need 600 hours on the job as a registered nurse. The catalog states it for FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP, and UNCW's DNP FAQ applies it to recent graduates: an applicant admitted straight from a BSN has to finish the 600 hours before clinical rotations begin.
For a full-time student, the RN hours have to be done before semester 5. By our arithmetic, 600 hours is roughly four months of full-time work at 36 hours a week, and longer on a part-time or per-diem schedule, so count your hours well before the spring of year 2. How the rule works for new graduates is covered on 600 hours of RN experience.
When to start searching, plan by plan
UNCW's clinical handbook gives two timing signals. Its process chart has students begin looking half a year to a year before the course and its deadline. Its text asks for placement details at least 8 weeks before the semester, while the same chart says 90 days before the course, and the earlier of the two is the safe one; the 8-week deadline guide explains the conflict. Applied to each plan, by our arithmetic:
- Full-time FNP, AGPCNP or PMHNP: first practicum in the spring of year 2, so start searching in the spring or summer of year 1, with details ready by mid-October in the fall of year 2 for a mid-January start.
- Part-time FNP: first practicum in the spring of year 3, so the search opens in the spring or summer of year 2.
- Part-time PMHNP: first practicum in the fall of year 4, so begin between the fall and spring of year 3.
- Part-time AGPCNP: first practicum in the spring of year 4, so the search opens in the spring or summer of year 3.
- MSN Nurse Educator and the certificate: the site and preceptor must be approved, with the agreement signed, no later than 5 weeks ahead of the first practicum course (
NSG 588now,NSG 596for earlier cohorts); see the nurse educator practicum. - Post APRN and Nurse Executive Leadership: no preceptor search, but the project site needs faculty and site approval early in
NSGL 696, which is the summer of year 1 on the full-time plan.
These windows use the January 13 spring start posted on UNCW's Preceptor's Corner for 2026 as the model; later semester dates are not yet posted.
BSN and ABSN students
Prelicensure and accelerated BSN students have their clinical placements assigned by the School of Nursing at off-campus agencies, and may travel beyond New Hanover County. UNCW's FAQs name New Hanover, Onslow, Brunswick and Pender counties, while the clinical handbook refers to affiliations in six surrounding counties. Clinical work starts in the first nursing semester, when NSG 302 and the NSG 300 lab together make up 135 clinical and lab hours, and builds to the NSG 434 capstone, where each student works one-to-one with an experienced RN preceptor.
Compliance comes before that first semester: according to the Prelicensure and ABSN clinical handbook, items are due by June 1 for students entering in August and by November 1 for those entering in January. More on the program is on the BSN Prelicensure page.
Starting your search on time
The first practicum is easy to leave late, because in year 1 it still feels far away. With us, your placement advisor maps your plan of study against UNCW's lead times, starts the North Carolina preceptor search inside the 6-to-12-month window, and has the preceptor's CV, license details and site information ready for the Graduate Clinical Coordinator well before the earlier of UNCW's two deadlines.
We plan the practica that follow at the same time, so the summer and fall courses are lined up rather than rushed. Use the form below to share your concentration, whether you are full-time or part-time, and the fall you started; your advisor will sketch your first placement timeline.
Questions UNCW students ask
Can I start my first UNCW practicum early?
Not before your plan of study schedules it. Practica have prerequisites: the catalog lists NSG 612 for NSGL 650, while the FNP preceptor page lists NSG 601, NSG 602 and NSG 603. Within the semester, hours start only after course orientation and Graduate Clinical Coordinator approval, so time with a preceptor before that point does not count.
When is the first clinical for the MSN-DNP PMHNP pathway?
UNCW has not published a plan of study for the MSN-DNP PMHNP pathway or the PMHNP Post-Doctoral Certificate, so the semester of the first practicum, NSGL 646, is not public. Ask the PMHNP concentration lead for your cohort's plan as soon as you are admitted, and start the preceptor search on the same 6-to-12-month lead time as other NP students.
Do I need compliance finished before my first practicum?
Yes. The Graduate Clinical Coordinator's approval, which you need before starting at a site, covers your immunization record, background check and drug test results. New DNP students complete their compliance items in Castle Branch or Certiphi by July 15, and the background check and drug test are repeated every year while you are in the program.
I was admitted before Fall 2025. Does my first practicum timing differ?
It may. Earlier NP cohorts can be on the older sequence, for example three FNP practica, NSGL 620 to NSGL 622, instead of four, along with a residency course. UNCW has not published an end date for the older courses, so check your own plan of study and your cohort's handbook, and confirm the semester of each practicum with your advisor.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against UNCW's catalog, handbooks and School of Nursing pages. Your course, your cohort's handbook and UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UNCW asks you to find your own North Carolina preceptor. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UNCW program, your practicum course and where in North Carolina you can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the CV, license and agency details UNCW's Graduate Clinical Coordinator reviews, well before the deadline.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care, pediatrics and women's health for
NSGL 650toNSGL 653, adult and older-adult care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - Preceptor CV with dates and site, license number and agency details ready for your submission
- In Wilmington, the Cape Fear region or wherever in North Carolina your clinicals can happen
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next practicum term is all we need to begin.