Finding a PMHNP Preceptor Near Me
Many psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner (PMHNP) students start their preceptor search by typing “PMHNP preceptor near me” into Google. Clinical Match Me’s own placement data shows how far they’re willing to look. In requests made on Clinical Match Me from October 2025 to September 2026, 43% of PMHNP students’ state searches included a state other than their own. And 25% of PMHNP requests were for a remote rotation.
Below, we’ll show where PMHNP students live, how they search and which settings they request. Then we’ll explain how to find a preceptor nearby or online.
TL;DR
- In Clinical Match Me’s data, PMHNP students searched by zip code and distance in 45% of their placement requests, compared with 65% for FNP students.
- When PMHNP students searched by state, 43% of those requests included at least one state besides their home state.
- Remote rotations made up 25% of PMHNP requests. Under the 2022 national NP education standards, care you provide by telehealth can count toward your direct patient care hours if your program accepts it.
- In-person psychiatry was the most requested PMHNP rotation, at 42% of PMHNP requests.
- Psych rotations can be harder to fill, so try to request yours as early as possible.
Where do PMHNP students on Clinical Match Me live?
All over the country. Clinical Match Me has students from all 50 states, and this chart shows the home states with the largest shares of PMHNP students in our placement data from October 2025 to September 2026.
Where you live affects which kind of search suits you best. In a large state, search by distance to find preceptors within a drive you can manage. If you live near a state line, or you’re willing to relocate for a rotation, search by state and list each state you’d consider.
How do PMHNP students search for a preceptor?
On Clinical Match Me, you can search for a “PMHNP preceptor near me” by listing the states you’re willing to travel to, or by entering your zip code and how far you’re willing to travel. In Clinical Match Me’s placement data from October 2025 to September 2026, PMHNP students searched by distance less often than FNP students did. They used a zip code and distance in 45% of their requests, compared with 65% for FNP students.
How far are PMHNP students willing to travel?
When PMHNP students searched by distance, the median distance they set was 50 miles in our data. In 64% of those searches, they set 50 miles or more, compared with 58% of FNP distance searches.
The farther you’re willing to travel, the more preceptors we can match you with. Before you choose a distance, think about how many days a week you’ll make that drive during your rotation.
How often do PMHNP students search outside their home state?
More often than FNP students do. In our data, when PMHNP students searched by state, 43% of those requests included at least one state besides their home state. For FNP state searches, the share was 35%.
Ask your program whether it accepts preceptors in other states before you list them. If it does, we can match you with more preceptors for every state you add. For search tips that apply to every NP track, read our guide to finding a preceptor near you.
Can you do a PMHNP rotation remotely?
Yes, if your program accepts telehealth hours. In Clinical Match Me’s placement data from October 2025 to September 2026, 25% of PMHNP placement requests were for remote rotations, compared with <1% of FNP requests. Remote psychiatry alone made up 15% of PMHNP requests.
The 2022 Standards for Quality Nurse Practitioner Education say your direct patient care hours can include care you provide to patients through telehealth, while simulation hours don’t count. Your program decides whether to include telehealth hours in your total, so check its policy before you request a remote rotation. Our guide to virtual clinical rotations for NP students explains how remote rotations work and what to ask your program.
Remote rotations make up a smaller share of mental health requests than they once did. In 2022, 40% of mental health placement requests on Clinical Match Me were for remote rotations, and in 2025 the share was 29%.
Which PMHNP rotations do students request most?
In-person psychiatry. It made up 42% of PMHNP placement requests in Clinical Match Me’s data from October 2025 to September 2026. Here’s how PMHNP requests split across the most requested specialties.
Decide which setting you need before you search, since you’ll look for a different kind of site for each one:
- In-person psychiatry: outpatient psychiatric practices and community mental health clinics, where you’ll typically see patients for evaluations and medication follow-ups.
- Psychotherapy: practices that offer therapy. ANCC’s PMHNP-BC certification requires clinical training in at least two psychotherapeutic treatment modalities, so ask your program how you’ll meet that requirement.
- Child and adolescent psychiatry: practices that see children and teens. ANCC certifies PMHNPs to care for patients across the lifespan, so ask whether your program requires hours with younger patients.
- Inpatient psychiatry: hospital psychiatric units, where you’ll care for patients during acute episodes.
To compare PMHNP requests with every other track, read our guide to NP clinical rotations by specialty.
How to find a PMHNP preceptor near me
Start with your program’s rules, then choose how to search and request your rotation as early as possible. Use these steps whether you want a preceptor nearby or online.
- Check your program’s rules. Ask which settings count, whether telehealth hours count and whether your program accepts preceptors in other states. Your clinical coordinator may also have a list of sites that have taken students from your program before.
- Know how many hours you need. In Clinical Match Me’s data, the median PMHNP placement request was for 160 hours, so you’ll likely complete several rotations to reach your program’s total. Our guide to PMHNP clinical hours explains how many you need and what counts.
- Choose the setting. Decide whether this rotation is in-person psychiatry, psychotherapy, child and adolescent psychiatry or inpatient psychiatry.
- Choose how to search. Search by distance if you want a short drive, or by state if you’re willing to travel or relocate. List each state you’d consider, as long as your program accepts it.
- Consider a remote rotation. If your program accepts telehealth hours, a remote rotation lets you train with a preceptor outside your area.
- Request early. Although many students are placed within days, psych rotations can be harder to fill, so try to request yours as early as possible. The sooner you do, the sooner we can place you.
Other ways to find psychiatric NP preceptors nearby
- Your own network: Ask psychiatric nurse practitioners, psychiatrists and therapists you’ve worked with as an RN whether they precept, or whether they know someone who does.
- Your program’s alumni: Graduates of your program who now work in psychiatry may be willing to precept you, and they’ll likely know your school’s requirements.
- Professional organizations: Local chapters of nurse practitioner and psychiatric nursing organizations often hold meetings and conferences where you can meet PMHNPs in person.
- Direct outreach: If you email practices yourself, keep each message short and personal. Include your program, the setting you need, your dates and your total hours, and follow up once if you don’t receive a reply.
PMHNP preceptor near me: questions students ask
How does Clinical Match Me find a PMHNP preceptor near me?
By location and by your profile. Choose the states you’re willing to travel to, or enter your zip code and how far you’re willing to travel. We’ll match you with preceptors in those areas, and PMHNP preceptors who match your profile will send you offers. Then compare your offers and choose the best preceptor for your schedule and learning goals.
What if there’s no PMHNP preceptor near me?
Widen your search. List more states, set a longer distance or request a remote rotation if your program accepts telehealth hours. Our AI preceptor outreach also contacts qualified providers near you, even when there are no matching preceptors in our network.
How much do PMHNP preceptors charge?
Our standard NP preceptor cost is the same regardless of specialty. So you’ll pay the same price whether you’re searching for a PMHNP or an FNP preceptor. Most preceptors on Clinical Match Me charge a flat rate of $1,995 for rotations up to 250 hours, and that price includes our fee and the preceptor’s honorarium (their compensation for teaching you). A smaller group of preceptors offer hourly rates instead, and payment plans are available for up to 24 months.
Why is it so hard to find a PMHNP preceptor?
Teaching a student adds time to a busy patient schedule, and it’s often unpaid, which is why many providers don’t take students. Psych rotations can also be harder to fill. With Clinical Match Me, you submit one placement request for each rotation and preceptors come to you.
Find a PMHNP preceptor near you with Clinical Match Me
Clinical Match Me is a preceptor placement service for NP and PA students. Our founder is a nurse practitioner who struggled to find a preceptor as a student, and since 2014 we’ve helped more than 10,000 students find preceptors.
Submit a placement request for each rotation you need, in person or remote. Preceptors who match your profile review your request and send you offers, so you choose your preceptor instead of being assigned one. Free to join and no credit card required. Pay nothing until you accept an offer, and once you do, you’re protected by our Money Back Guarantee. If your school rejects your preceptor for any reason, or your preceptor cancels, choose either a full refund or a new preceptor.
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About this data
The Clinical Match Me figures in this article come from anonymized placement requests that students, most of them NP students, made on Clinical Match Me. Unless a sentence names a year, they cover October 2025 to September 2026. Home-state shares count each PMHNP student once, by the home state on their account. Search figures count placement requests: a distance search uses one zip code and a maximum distance, and a state search lists one or more states.
Every figure is a share or a median, and the figures describe students who used Clinical Match Me rather than all PMHNP students nationally. We update the data monthly, and this version is from October 2026.
You’re welcome to reuse these figures under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license. Just credit Clinical Match Me as the source and link to this page.
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