Physician assistant and physician preceptors for USI nurse practitioner students
At the University of Southern Indiana, a physician assistant or a physician can precept you in the FNP and AGACNP tracks, provided they meet the same license, certification and experience rules as an NP preceptor. The PMHNP track is the exception: USI permits clinical only with a PMHNP or a licensed psychiatrist, which leaves out PAs and every physician who is not a psychiatrist.
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Tell us your USI program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
The answer, track by track
USI's Course Requirements page names eligible preceptors course by course. Read it as three separate policies, one per specialty, rather than one list for the whole graduate program. The wording in the last column is USI's own.
| Course | PA? | Physician? | USI wording |
|---|---|---|---|
FNP NRSG 643 | Yes | Primary care physicians | "family nurse practitioners, physician assistants and primary care physicians" |
FNP NRSG 645, NRSG 647 | Yes, family or specialty | Primary care or specialty physicians | "family and specialty nurse practitioners/physician assistants and primary care and specialty physicians" |
AGACNP NRSG 633, NRSG 635, NRSG 637 | Yes, in acute care | MDs or DOs in acute care | "NPs, PAs, MDs, or DOs in the acute care setting" |
PMHNP NRSG 653, NRSG 655, NRSG 657 | No | Licensed psychiatrists only | "only permitted to do clinical with a PMHNP or a licensed psychiatrist" |
The 800-level BSN-to-DNP courses carry the same wording as their 600-level twins, and the post-master's certificates run the same specialty courses, so the answer holds whichever USI program you are in.
FNP: primary care first, specialists later
In NRSG 643 the setting is primary care that serves families, and USI names three kinds of clinician for it: family NPs, PAs and primary care physicians. A PA or a family physician in a busy family practice fits the first course as well as a family NP does.
The field widens in NRSG 645 and NRSG 647. Specialty NPs, specialty PAs and specialty physicians become eligible, in step with the handbook's note that NRSG 645 students may add sites such as pediatrics, obstetrics or dermatology while most of their hours stay in primary care. In NRSG 647, specialty time needs course faculty approval in advance.
In practice, a dermatology PA can cover part of your spring, but not your fall. If you are building a three-semester plan, line up the primary care preceptor for NRSG 643 first and treat specialty clinicians as options for the later terms.
AGACNP: four professions, one kind of setting
The acute care track is the most open about profession and the most specific about place. NPs, PAs, MDs and DOs all qualify, but only "in the acute care setting", a phrase the handbook repeats for all three courses. NRSG 633 asks for various acute care settings, and NRSG 637 names critical care or hospitalist work as preferred, with exceptions considered case by case.
That makes hospital teams the natural source. A hospitalist group, an intensivist service or an acute care PA team can all supply preceptors, and a mixed team lets you work with more than one clinician once each has an approved agreement.
The later AGACNP courses also allow long weeks, up to 36 clinical hours in NRSG 635 and NRSG 637. When you talk with a hospital physician or PA, ask how their shift pattern would let you schedule that many hours if you need them.
PMHNP: why a PA or family doctor will not count
USI's psychiatric track allows exactly two kinds of preceptor: a PMHNP or a licensed psychiatrist. That sentence excludes more clinicians than it first appears to. A PA working in psychiatry is out, however long they have practiced there. So is a family physician or family NP who manages plenty of depression and anxiety, and so are psychologists, licensed clinical social workers and counselors.
The setting is outpatient mental health across NRSG 653, NRSG 655 and NRSG 657. PMHNP students may count up to 150 telehealth hours, but the preceptor rule applies to those visits too, and you and the preceptor must be together at the approved site while the patient joins remotely (telehealth rules).
With only two professions eligible, the pool of possible preceptors is smaller than in the other tracks. Start the search well before the 6-week packet deadline requires.
The same checklist applies to every profession
A PA or physician gets no lighter checklist than an NP. Whatever the degree, the same five hurdles apply: licensing, certification, a year of experience as an advanced provider, a signed USI agreement and independence from you, meaning no family or romantic tie. USI's wording puts PAs and NPs in one sentence, and both must be board-certified in the specialty area that lines up with your track.
On the packet, a PA or physician completes Part Two exactly as an NP would: license number and state, DEA, board status and the certifying body, and years at the current practice. The full list of conditions is on who can precept a USI student.
Mixing professions at one site
Many practices pair NPs, PAs and physicians. If your approved preceptor is a family NP and a PA in the same office offers to see some patients with you, USI allows it once an additional Preceptor Agreement for that PA is completed and approved. Until then you can observe the PA, but that time does not count toward your direct hours. Once approved, the PA can co-sign your Typhon log for the shared patients, keeping the record straight.
For PMHNP students the same arrangement works only with another PMHNP or a psychiatrist, so a PA colleague in a psychiatric practice cannot be added as an additional preceptor. The additional preceptors page covers the paperwork for adding a clinician.
Why USI students choose us for the right preceptor type
We match the profession to the course before anything else. FNP students get family NPs, PAs and primary care physicians for the fall, with specialty options ready for spring and summer. AGACNP students get acute care NPs, PAs and physicians, with critical care and hospitalist teams first in line for NRSG 637. PMHNP students hear only from PMHNPs and psychiatrists.
Each candidate's board certification, certifying board, license state and years in practice are confirmed before we introduce you, and the site's agreement signer is identified for the Clinical Education Agreement request. That is why a packet built with us reaches USI complete. When a preceptor drops out before the course ends, we remain on hand and source a replacement from a profession your course accepts. Start with the form below, or see how it works.
Questions USI students ask
Can a physician assistant precept a USI PMHNP student?
No. USI's Course Requirements page allows psychiatric-track clinical with just two kinds of clinician, PMHNPs and licensed psychiatrists, in every PMHNP specialty course. A PA in psychiatry may be an excellent clinician, but hours with them would not meet the rule. Look for PMHNPs and psychiatrists, including practices that offer telehealth visits from the clinic.
Can a DO precept a USI FNP student?
Yes, when the DO fits the course. USI lists primary care physicians for NRSG 643 and adds specialty physicians for NRSG 645 and NRSG 647. The FNP wording says physicians without separating MDs from DOs, while the AGACNP wording names both. Every other preceptor rule still applies to the physician, from licensing to the year of experience.
Does a PA preceptor need to be board-certified?
Yes. USI applies the same certification sentence to PAs as to NPs: board certification in the specialty area that corresponds to your track. The Preceptor Packet records board status and the certifying body, and USI verifies the preceptor's license before approval. A PA without current certification cannot be approved.
Can a pediatrician precept an FNP student at USI?
In the later courses, yes. NRSG 645 allows specialty sites such as pediatrics, and USI lists specialty physicians for both NRSG 645 and NRSG 647, with specialty time in NRSG 647 needing prior faculty approval. For NRSG 643 the setting must be primary care for families, so ask course faculty before counting a pediatrics-only practice.
Can a psychologist supervise my PMHNP clinical hours?
No. A psychologist is neither a PMHNP nor a psychiatrist, the only two preceptor types USI allows in the psychiatric track. A therapy-focused clinic can still work as a site if a PMHNP or psychiatrist there is your approved preceptor and is physically present in the facility while you see patients.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against USI's own bulletin, program pages and Graduate Nursing Handbook. Your handbook, course faculty and the Nursing Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
- University of Southern Indiana Graduate Nursing Handbook: Course Requirements
- University of Southern Indiana Graduate Nursing Handbook: University Clinical Requirements and Clinical Evaluation
- University of Southern Indiana Graduate Nursing Handbook: Clinical FAQs
- University of Southern Indiana Preceptor Packet (Form G, updated 07/2026)
USI makes the search your job. We make it the easy part.
Tell us your USI track, your city and your next clinical semester. We find preceptors who fit the NRSG course and fill the Preceptor Packet and Clinical Education Agreement request with typed, complete details, well before USI's 6-week window.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family primary care for FNP, acute care teams for AGACNP, PMHNPs and psychiatrists for PMHNP
- Preceptor license, certification, years of practice and the site's agreement signer ready for the packet
- Fall, Spring and Summer planned together, close to home in a state USI enrolls
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