Your own network, TTUHSC's list or a placement service
TTUHSC graduate students land a preceptor in one of three ways: through clinicians they already know, through TTUHSC's list of recent preceptors, or by handing the search to a placement service. None of them changes who approves you. The better fit depends on your course, your town and the weeks left before the term.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your TTUHSC program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your TTUHSC course.
Same approval, whichever route you take
TTUHSC places the search with the student and keeps the decision with the School of Nursing. SON staff and faculty approve the preceptor and, separately, the facility, and an electronic preceptor agreement is completed for each preceptor every semester. That holds whether your preceptor is a former coworker, a name from TTUHSC's list, or someone we found. The rule itself is covered on finding your own preceptor.
So choosing a route comes down to three practical questions: who spends the hours on outreach, how closely the match fits your course, and what happens if the arrangement falls apart in week five.
Route one: people you already know
Your own network is where most students begin, and with good reason. A nurse practitioner you have worked beside already knows your work, and a practice that knows you may agree faster than one hearing your name for the first time. Former charge nurses, colleagues who finished NP programs and clinicians you meet through your job are all worth asking.
The limits appear with specialized courses. A network built in one hospital unit rarely covers every population a TTUHSC plan requires, whether that is pediatrics, adult-gerontology acute care or psychiatric care across the lifespan. Your employer can be uncertain ground as well: TTUHSC's published workplace rules are clearest for undergraduates and the Post-Master's DNP, so check with your course faculty first. The workplace clinicals page has the details.
Best for: students with close ties to clinicians in exactly the setting their course needs.
Route two: TTUHSC's list and preceptor team
TTUHSC keeps a record of clinicians who have precepted its graduate students within the past two years and shares it with current graduate students as a guide. On the BSN to DNP side, faculty and a preceptor team help with selecting and contracting preceptors and facilities. Both are genuine support, and our page on TTUHSC's preceptor list and preceptor team explains each one.
The list's strength is familiarity: those clinicians already know how TTUHSC reviews and supervises students. Its limit is that it is shared. Every current graduate student can open the same names, a clinician who precepted last year may have no opening this term, and a practice on the list may sit hours from your home. Treat each name as a lead to call, not a placement.
Best for: students near a cluster of listed names who start early enough to work through several calls.
Route three: a placement service
A placement service takes the outreach off your plate. We start from your exact TTUHSC course and your drive radius, contact practices that fit, and introduce a preceptor only after dates and weekly hours are agreed. Then we assemble what TTUHSC's review needs for both the clinician and the facility, so your electronic agreement goes quickly.
This route earns its place when the others run thin: a specialized course, a rural home area, a term starting soon, several clinical courses still ahead, or a full-time job that leaves little room for calls. It also gives you a standing backup, because if a preceptor withdraws, the replacement search starts right away. See how it works and how pricing works.
Best for: students who want a confirmed, course-matched preceptor with the paperwork handled.
The three routes side by side
| Question | Your network | TTUHSC's list | Placement service |
|---|---|---|---|
| Who makes the calls | You | You, with TTUHSC's support | Your placement advisor |
| Fit to your course | Depends on who you know | Depends on who has room | Matched to the course from the start |
| Your time each week | High | High | Low: you review and decide |
| Approval details | You collect them | You collect them | Prepared and checked for you |
| If the preceptor withdraws | You search again | You search again | Replacement search begins at once |
| Where it shines | Close ties in the right setting | Listed names near home, early start | Scarce settings, rural areas, short runways |
A quick way to decide, course by course
- List your remaining clinical coursesWrite down each clinical course and its term from your plan of study, including the DNP Advanced Practicum courses if you are in the BSN to DNP.
- Mark who you know in each settingBeside each course, note any clinician who works with that patient population and could realistically say yes.
- Check the list against your mapLook for names on TTUHSC's list within a drive you could make several days a week during the term.
- Count the weeksMeasure the time from today to the course start, leaving room for TTUHSC's review and any new facility agreement.
- Pick a route per courseUse your network or the list where either looks strong, and hand the thin courses to us. Mixing routes across one plan is common and sensible.
If every route is coming up empty, our page for students who can't find a preceptor is the next stop.
A name on TTUHSC's list, or a friendly yes in the hallway, is not yet a placement. Nothing is settled until the clinician commits to dates and TTUHSC approves both the preceptor and the facility.
Questions TTUHSC students ask
Can I use different routes for different clinical courses?
Yes, and plenty of students do. You might keep a former colleague for a primary care course, call names from TTUHSC's list for the next one, and hand a hard-to-fill psychiatric or pediatric rotation to us. Each preceptor still needs TTUHSC's approval and a semester agreement, so tell us which courses you are covering yourself and we plan around them.
Does using a placement service change how TTUHSC reviews my preceptor?
TTUHSC reviews the preceptor and the facility on their merits, whoever found them. What a service changes is how complete the details are when they arrive. A file with the license checked, the practice described and the facility's agreement status known is simply easier for SON staff and faculty to review.
Should I call names from TTUHSC's list before contacting a service?
If you have time, calling a few nearby names is a sensible first move. Keep notes on who you reached, who declined and who never replied, and pass them along if you bring us in. We skip the clinicians you have already covered and focus on practices that have not heard from you yet, so no one gets contacted twice.
Which route is fastest when my term starts soon?
With little time, the route that already holds a warm lead is usually quickest, whether that is a clinician you know or a nearby name on TTUHSC's list. If neither exists, a placement service working your search every day generally moves faster than evenings of cold calls. Confirm your course's submission date with your faculty first, then choose.
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.
Your TTUHSC preceptor search, run by specialists.
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.
- Preceptors matched to the track: family primary care, adult-gerontology acute care, pediatrics, psychiatric mental health
- License, certification and facility details ready for TTUHSC's preceptor and facility approval
- In Lubbock, Amarillo, Abilene, the Permian Basin, Dallas-Fort Worth and the states TTUHSC accepts
Start your placement plan
Your track, your town and your next clinical term is all we need to begin.