Your TTUHSC preceptor dropped out: what to do now
A preceptor who pulls out puts a clinical course at risk, but the next few days decide how much. Tell your course faculty right away, lock down a record of the hours you have already completed, and start on a replacement who fits the course. TTUHSC approves each new preceptor and facility, and each new preceptor needs an agreement of their own for the semester.
Replace your preceptor
Your TTUHSC course, your town, the hours still owed and the weeks left in the term. A placement advisor replies with replacement options.
Before the term or partway through: two different problems
A cancellation before the term begins costs you a person but no hours. The job is a fresh search against the same course requirements, with approval and the semester's electronic agreement still ahead. Treat it as a short-notice placement and move fast; need a preceptor fast lays out that route.
A departure mid-rotation is harder. You now have completed hours to protect as well as weeks left in the term to fill, and the replacement has to fit the same course with a schedule that can realistically cover the hours still owed. Your course faculty become part of the plan from the first day.
Either way, the preceptor's exit does not change what TTUHSC expects from the course. It only changes how much time you have to meet it.
Your first 48 hours
- Tell your course faculty in writingGive the date the preceptor stopped, the hours finished, the hours left and what you plan to do. Ask whether the Graduate Coordinator should hear from you as well.
- Secure your completed hoursMake sure every hour you worked is recorded the way your course requires, and ask your course faculty what they need from the departing preceptor, such as a sign-off on the time you spent together.
- Ask the departing preceptor one questionIs there a colleague in the same practice who could step in? A replacement inside the same facility leaves the site side untouched.
- Check your own clearanceConfirm that BLS, any track certification, immunizations and this year's HIPAA training are all current, so nothing on your side slows the replacement.
- Open the replacement searchTarget clinicians who fit the same course and can offer enough days in the weeks that remain.
Replacement options, quickest first
| Replacement | What changes | What TTUHSC reviews |
|---|---|---|
| Colleague in the same practice | The preceptor only | The new preceptor, plus an agreement for them this semester |
| Clinician at a site that already hosts TTUHSC students | Preceptor and facility | Both, plus the new preceptor's agreement |
| Clinician at a site new to TTUHSC | Preceptor and facility | Both, the new preceptor's agreement, and any affiliation agreement the site requires |
The first row tends to move fastest because the site stays the same. The last can be the slowest: a facility new to TTUHSC may need an affiliation agreement through the SON's Clinical Placement, Affiliation Agreements, and Preceptor Management unit before any student can begin. The backup preceptors guide covers the replacement rules in full. Whichever row applies, compare the new clinician's schedule with the weeks remaining before you commit.
Protecting the hours already on your record
Completed hours are the part of your progress most worth guarding. TTUHSC does not publish its graduate logging rules or name a logging system, so your syllabus and course faculty define what a valid record looks like. Get the departing preceptor's confirmation while they are still responsive; a sign-off is far harder to obtain a month later. Save any messages in which the preceptor confirmed dates or cancelled shifts as well, since they show why the rotation stopped.
Keep a personal record alongside the official one: dates, hours, settings and the kinds of patients you saw. If your course faculty later need to confirm what you finished, a clear log settles it quickly. For what TTUHSC counts at all, see what counts as clinical hours.
If the hours can't be finished this term
Sometimes too few weeks remain, even with a strong replacement. TTUHSC's handbook provides the In Progress grade, shown as PR, chiefly for clinical and practicum work that runs past the end of a term, and your course faculty decide whether it fits. An Incomplete is narrower and converts to an F after a year on the record. Ask about both well before the last weeks of the term, while there is still time to act on the answer.
Keep the stakes in view: the clinical side of a graduate course is graded pass/fail, and failing it fails the course. Talk the options through with faculty early instead of hoping the hours appear. Behind on clinical hours sets out the catch-up choices, and the grades and progression guide covers the full rules.
How we get you a replacement
When a preceptor drops, TTUHSC students come to us because we treat it as a same-day problem. We ask for your course, your town, the hours left and the weeks remaining, then look for clinicians who fit that exact course, beginning with practices where the facility side is already settled.
As soon as a replacement confirms, we check their schedule against the hours you still owe and prepare the license, certification, practice and facility details that SON staff and faculty review for the new electronic agreement. TTUHSC holds the approval; we make sure the file that reaches it is ready to approve. Every placement we arrange also carries a backup option for the same course, so a second cancellation starts from a short list instead of from scratch.
Send your course and remaining hours through the form below, or open the chat.
Questions TTUHSC students ask
Do I have to tell TTUHSC my preceptor quit?
Yes, and promptly. Your course faculty are responsible for the course and need to know the moment a rotation stops. They can confirm what the course requires from here, whether a replacement at a new site needs extra steps, and whether an In Progress grade might come into play later. Early notice keeps every option open.
Do the hours I already completed still count?
Hours worked under an approved preceptor are part of your course record, but how they are verified is set by your course rather than by a public TTUHSC rule. Ask your course faculty what documentation they need, and secure the departing preceptor's confirmation right away, while they are still easy to reach.
Can the practice simply give me a different clinician?
That is often the fastest fix. A colleague in the same practice still needs TTUHSC's approval as a preceptor and an electronic agreement for this semester, but the facility stays the same. Check that the new clinician's patients and schedule suit your course before you accept.
What if the preceptor ended the rotation over a concern about me?
Speak with your course faculty before approaching anyone new. Faculty decide how the course proceeds, and TTUHSC's handbook allows a student to be failed at any point in the term for unsafe practice. Understand exactly what was raised, and what faculty expect next, before a replacement search begins.
Does the replacement need the same qualifications?
Yes. The new preceptor must fit the same course, meet the Texas rule for APRN program preceptors, and be approved by TTUHSC together with the facility. TTUHSC does not publish graduate preceptor qualifications such as years of experience, so your course faculty have the final word on fit.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against TTUHSC's catalog, Student Handbook, program pages and licensure disclosures. Your course faculty, your program director and the plan of study for your cohort have the final word.
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Tell us your TTUHSC track, your next clinical course and the town you'll train near. We find preceptors who fit the course and pull together what SON staff and faculty need to approve both the clinician and the facility, early enough for the electronic preceptor agreement to go through before the term.
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- License, certification and facility details ready for TTUHSC's preceptor and facility approval
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