When your first Gonzaga clinical course falls

Q: When do Gonzaga FNP students start clinicals?

In year 2 of the three-year MSN, with NURS 601, the 60-hour primary care practicum taken alongside NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment. Both require NURS 523 and NURS 524 first. The first FNP specialty practicum, NURS 662P, comes later in the same year.

Q: Do Gonzaga PMHNP students need a primary care preceptor first?

Yes. NURS 601 is set in primary care for both NP tracks, so a PMHNP student's first preceptor is a primary care provider. Psychiatric practicums begin with NURS 661M at the start of year 3, after C or better grades in NURS 670, NURS 600 and NURS 601.

Q: When does a Gonzaga DNP student need a practicum site?

In the first semester. NURS 700 DNP Practicum Readiness asks you to identify a practice gap and establish a practicum site, alongside NURS 760. Hands-on hours start in NURS 701. Line up the setting and a likely agency liaison before your first term begins.

Updated September 25, 2026 · Reviewed by the Gonzaga Preceptor placement team

For Gonzaga's MSN FNP and PMHNP students, the first precepted hours come in NURS 601, the 60-hour primary care practicum taken with Advanced Health Assessment in year 2 of the nine-semester plan. PMHNP students begin psychiatric practicums with NURS 661M at the start of year 3, and DNP students establish a practicum site in NURS 700, their first semester. The preceptor search needs to start well before any of these.

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Tell us your Gonzaga program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your Gonzaga course.

Numbered steps. Working back from your first clinical day: 1 Approach local providers; 2 Submit the site request; 3 Agreement and clearance; 4 Set the schedule; 5 First point of contact. — Working back from your first clinical day: 1 Approach local providers; 2 Submit the site request; 3 Agreement and clearance; 4 Set the schedule; 5 First point of contact.

First clinical course by program

Where the first precepted hours fall in each Gonzaga nursing program
Program	First clinical course	When
MSN FNP	`NURS 601` (60 hours, with `NURS 600`), then `NURS 662P`	Year 2 of 3, with the first specialty practicum later that year
MSN PMHNP	`NURS 601` (60 hours), then `NURS 661M`	Year 2 for `NURS 601`; start of year 3 for `NURS 661M`
Second MSN	`NURS 601` with `NURS 600`	After `NURS 523` and `NURS 524`, on an individual plan
Post-Master's DNP	`NURS 700`, then hands-on hours from `NURS 701`	First semester for `NURS 700`; `NURS 701` after `NURS 760` and `NURS 708`
BSN	`NURS 331`	Junior fall, or junior spring for half the class
Accelerated BSN	`NURS 331A`	First semester of the Summer 2027 cohort

The MSN's nine semesters cover three calendar years with summers included, which puts year 2 at roughly semesters four through six. BSN and ABSN clinicals are arranged by the department in Spokane; the rest of this page is about the graduate programs, where the first move is yours.

MSN FNP: `NURS 601` in year 2

Year 1 of the FNP track is the online MSN core plus NURS 523 Advanced Pathophysiology. NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment and its practicum NURS 601 both require NURS 523 and NURS 524 first, which is why they land in year 2. Taken together, the pair counts as a full-time load.

NURS 601 is one credit and 60 hours in a primary care setting. The catalog names a nurse practitioner or physician as the preceptor, and the 2026 web page adds physician assistants. NURS 600 also brings your first two Spokane immersions, which fits Gonzaga's FAQ note that immersions tend to start near the program's midpoint. The NURS 600 and 601 guide covers the pair, and your first specialty practicum, NURS 662P, follows in the same year.

Gonzaga's FAQ advises keeping paid work to 20 hours a week or less once clinicals begin, so year 2 is also the time to rework a job schedule around clinic days.

MSN PMHNP: `NURS 601`, then `NURS 661M` in year 3

PMHNP students take NURS 601 in primary care in year 2, the same as FNP students, so a PMHNP student's first preceptor is a primary care provider rather than a psychiatric one. The psychiatric sequence opens with NURS 661M at the start of year 3, paired with NURS 652M.

Before NURS 661M you need NURS 670 Psychopharmacology, NURS 600 and NURS 601, each passed with a C or higher. Psychiatric preceptors are in heavy demand: HRSA's mid-2026 shortage-area data show Washington meeting only about 21% of its need for mental health practitioners. Plan the NURS 661M search during year 2 rather than after NURS 601 ends. See PMHNP practicum courses for the sequence.

Second MSN and DNP starts

Second MSN students skip the MSN core, so NURS 600 and NURS 601 arrive sooner, as soon as NURS 523 and NURS 524 are complete. The plan is individualized, so your first clinical term depends on your transcript; ask your faculty advisor to confirm it when your plan is set.

In the Post-Master's DNP, NURS 700 DNP Practicum Readiness falls in the first semester alongside NURS 760, and asks you to identify a community practice gap and establish a practicum site. Hands-on practicum hours begin with NURS 701, which opens only after you earn a B in each of NURS 708 and NURS 760. Because the site and the agency liaison take shape in your first term, the DNP search starts before classes do. The DNP practicum courses page has the full sequence.

Working back from your first clinical day

Gonzaga publishes no deadline for the Practicum Site Placement Request; that timing is set in the handbook for graduate nursing students and in each course's materials. What Gonzaga does publish is the order of steps, and every one must be finished before your first hour counts. Start the search during the semester before the practicum at the latest.

Approach local providersGonzaga's first step belongs to the student: identify providers near you who could precept.
Submit the site requestSend faculty your Practicum Site Placement Request; course faculty make the final call.
Agreement and clearanceGonzaga needs the affiliation agreement active, your CPNW compliance complete and the site approved.
Set the scheduleConfirm dates with your preceptor about two weeks before the rotation, with your CV and written goals in hand.
First point of contactA short call with preceptor and clinical faculty reviews your goals for the semester.

Health systems add their own lead time. At Providence Inland Northwest the onboarding packet is due four or more weeks before a student starts, and Kootenai Health accepts requests inside a window that opens 90 days out and closes two weeks out, in both cases after an agreement is in place. Practicum courses run the full term, and the online graduate calendar has every date. The whole path is on the placement process page.

Start your first search with us

Your first clinical course comes with the least experience behind you and the most steps ahead. We take on the search: a primary care preceptor for NURS 601 in your own state, a psychiatric preceptor lined up for NURS 661M while you are still in year 2, or a DNP practice setting and liaison ready for NURS 700.

We assemble the preceptor's license, board certification and schedule and the site's agreement contact, everything faculty and the Clinical Placement Team look for in a site request, so approval comes early and the agreement and your CPNW clearance are done ahead of the first day. Use the form below with your program and first clinical term.

Questions Gonzaga students ask

When do Gonzaga FNP students start clinicals?

In year 2 of the three-year MSN, with NURS 601, the 60-hour primary care practicum taken alongside NURS 600 Advanced Health Assessment. Both require NURS 523 and NURS 524 first. The first FNP specialty practicum, NURS 662P, comes later in the same year.

Do Gonzaga PMHNP students need a primary care preceptor first?

Yes. NURS 601 is set in primary care for both NP tracks, so a PMHNP student's first preceptor is a primary care provider. Psychiatric practicums begin with NURS 661M at the start of year 3, after C or better grades in NURS 670, NURS 600 and NURS 601.

How early should I look for my first Gonzaga preceptor?

No later than the semester before the practicum. Faculty sign-off on your site request, a live affiliation agreement and complete CPNW compliance all come before the first countable hour, and many health systems add weeks of onboarding. Psychiatric and DNP sites reward an even earlier start.

When does a Gonzaga DNP student need a practicum site?

In the first semester. NURS 700 DNP Practicum Readiness asks you to identify a practice gap and establish a practicum site, alongside NURS 760. Hands-on hours start in NURS 701. Line up the setting and a likely agency liaison before your first term begins.

Does Gonzaga post a deadline for the first site request?

Gonzaga's public pages show none. Request timing belongs to the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook, a document kept off Gonzaga's public site, and to your course materials. Ask the Clinical Placement Team or your faculty advisor for your cohort's date, and plan to submit well ahead of it.

NURS 601NURS 600 and 601: health assessmentHow Gonzaga's NURS 600 and NURS 601 work: 60 precepted primary care hours, two Spokane immersions, who can supervise, and how to plan the load.First stepIdentifying local preceptorsWhat Gonzaga means when it asks students to engage local providers first: who can precept each track, where to look, and what to bring to the first call.ProcessClinical placement processHow a Gonzaga NP practicum comes together, in order: local preceptors, the site request, faculty approval, the agreement, CPNW, hours, site visit, evaluation.PMHNPPMHNP practicum coursesGonzaga's PMHNP practicums, NURS 661M to 663M and the NURS 683M extension: populations by course, who can precept, hour ranges and the observation cap.DNPDNP practicum coursesGonzaga's Post-Master's DNP practicums, NURS 700 to 704 with the NURS 760 to 763 seminars: establishing a practicum site, the proposal and 1,000 hours.UrgentNeed a preceptor fastTerm starting soon and no Gonzaga preceptor? The approval steps speed cannot skip, health system lead times, and the quickest route to a first countable hour.

Last checked 2026-09-25

We check these pages against Gonzaga's catalog, FAQs, preceptor packets and Department of Nursing pages. Your course, the Graduate Nursing Student Handbook and Gonzaga's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.

Gonzaga asks you to find local preceptors first. Let us run that search.

Tell us your Gonzaga program, your practicum course and where you live and can travel. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, certification and site details your Practicum Site Placement Request needs, early in the semester before.

Preceptors matched to the course: primary care across the lifespan for NURS 661P to NURS 664P, psychiatric care for NURS 661M to NURS 663M, an agency liaison for the DNP
Credentials, license, board certification and site contact ready for your site request
In Spokane, across Washington or wherever in the ten western states you are licensed

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Your program, city and next practicum term is all we need to begin.