Questions to Ask a Preceptor Before You Accept

Knowing the questions to ask a preceptor before you accept helps you choose a rotation that gives you the hours, patients and teaching your course requires. A preceptor can be a wonderful teacher and still be the wrong fit for this course, because of their schedule, the patients they see or a vacation in the middle of your semester. Here are the questions to ask, grouped by what each one helps you check, plus a sample opener for your call, how to check a license and what to ask once you start.

TL;DR

• Before you call, know your course’s hours, dates, patient population and paperwork.
• Ask about your schedule, the patients you’ll see, how they teach, what you’ll do yourself, onboarding, your school’s paperwork and planned time off.
• Listen for specific answers, and ask for an example from a recent student.
• Check the preceptor’s license on Nursys or the state board’s website.
• Share what you learn with your clinical coordinator, since your faculty approve every placement.

What should you know before you call a preceptor?

Know what your course requires before you write your list of questions to ask a preceptor, so you can tell right away whether their answers fit. Check your syllabus or ask your clinical coordinator for:

• The hours this course requires, and the dates you need to finish them
• The setting and patient population your course accepts, such as family practice or psychiatric care
• The forms your preceptor will need to sign

Your school decides whether a placement counts. Under the 2022 national standards for NP education, “Faculty assess and approve all clinical placements for appropriateness for meeting course objectives, including those sites and preceptors identified by the students or others.”

Then write down two or three must-haves about how you learn best, such as starting hands-on or talking through feedback at the end of each day. They’ll help you compare your options calmly, rather than saying yes to the first preceptor who agrees because you’re relieved.

Questions to ask a preceptor about your schedule and hours

Start with the schedule, because a rotation only works if you can finish your hours on time. Ask:

• “Which days and hours could I be in clinic each week?”
• “I need [number] hours between [start date] and [end date]. Does that fit your schedule?”
• “How much of your day is telehealth, and could I take part in those visits?”
• “How should I reach you if I’m sick or running late?”
• “Can you approve my hours in my school’s online system?”

Telehealth time can count. The national standards say direct patient care hours “may include student provision of care delivered to the patient through telehealth,” while simulation doesn’t count. Check how your own program counts telehealth before you plan around those hours.

Some programs ask preceptors to approve hours online, which is why the last question matters. The University of Tennessee, Knoxville College of Nursing, for example, has preceptors verify time logs in Typhon, an online tracking platform.

Which patients will you see?

Ask about the patients and visit types, because your placements have to match your program’s population focus. The national standards say NP students’ clinical placements “are aligned with the program role and population focus.”

• “Which patients do you see most, by age and condition?”
• “About how many patients do you see in a day, and how long is each visit?”
• “Do you see new patients, or mostly follow-up visits?”
• “Which procedures could I watch or do myself?”

If your course needs a set number of visits with one group of patients, such as children or pregnant patients, ask whether the preceptor sees enough of them during your dates.

How will the preceptor teach you?

Ask how they teach, then listen for a plan rather than a general promise. These questions tell you a lot in a few minutes:

• “How do students usually start in their first week?” A good answer describes steps, such as watching for a day, then taking histories, then seeing patients and presenting to the preceptor.
• “What does teaching look like on a busy day?” Listen for short talks between patients or a quick review at the end of the day.
• “How would you like me to ask questions during clinic?” A clear rule, such as “ask about safety in the room and save the rest for the hallway,” is a good sign.
• “How do you give feedback when something doesn’t go well?” Listen for feedback that’s prompt, specific and private.

When an answer sounds rehearsed, ask, “Could you give me an example from a recent student?” A real habit comes with a real example.

Some preceptors teach with a named method, such as the One Minute Preceptor model, which starts by asking you what you think is going on. If they use one, ask how they’d like you to present patients.

What will you do on your own?

Ask what you’ll do yourself at the start and how your role will grow, so you know whether you’ll spend the rotation seeing patients or mostly watching.

• “What will I do in my first week?”
• “When could I see patients first and then present them to you?”
• “Can I write notes in the health record, and will you review and sign them?”
• “Can I suggest treatment plans and prescriptions for you to approve?”

NP faculty expect your preceptor to have a plan for this. A checklist from the National Organization of Nurse Practitioner Faculties (NONPF) and the American Association of Nurse Practitioners (AANP), printed with the national standards, lists “Establish plan for student progression from observing to conducting visits with minimal intervention” among faculty expectations of preceptors.

What should you ask about the site and onboarding?

Ask what the site needs from you before your first patient, and who takes care of each step.

• “What do I need before I start, such as a background check, drug screen, immunization records or health record training?”
• “Are there any costs for me, such as a badge or parking fee?”
• “Is there a chaperone policy for sensitive exams, and what should I do if I ever feel unsafe with a patient?”
• “Has your site precepted students from my school before?”

If your school has placed students there before, it may already have a contract with the site. If not, your school may need an affiliation agreement before you start, so learn what an affiliation agreement is and how long one can take. Once you’ve accepted, our guide to the first day of your clinical rotation covers what to bring and how to prepare.

What should you ask about your school’s paperwork?

Ask whether the preceptor is ready for your school’s forms, because missing paperwork can delay your start.

• “Have you precepted NP students before?”
• “Could you send a copy of your license and board certification, plus a resume or CV, for my school?”
• “Are you comfortable completing my school’s preceptor agreement, approving my hours and filling out evaluations?”
• “Would you be available for a site visit or a call with my faculty?”
• “Does your organization use its own contract template, and who should my school contact about it?”

These questions come straight from what programs require. The national standards call for each preceptor’s CV and proof of their degree, “unencumbered license” and national certification. The NONPF and AANP checklist asks preceptors to “be available for virtual or face-to-face site visits.” The University of Arizona College of Nursing gives its students the contract question to ask.

Will your preceptor be away during the rotation?

Ask about planned time off before you accept, since even one week away can leave you short of hours.

• “Do you have any vacation, conferences or leave planned between [start date] and [end date]?”
• “Does the clinic close for any holidays during those dates?”
• “If you’re away, could I work with a colleague, or should I plan to make up the hours?”

Check with your faculty before you see patients with a covering colleague. Under the national standards, “NP faculty evaluate all clinical sites and preceptors new to the NP program prior to NP student placement,” so ask before you count hours with someone your program hasn’t approved.

How should you ask a preceptor these questions?

Ask for a short phone or video call, about 15 to 20 minutes, rather than trading long emails. On a call, you’ll hear how the preceptor explains things, and that tells you something about how they teach.

There won’t be time for every question in this guide. Start with the questions to ask a preceptor that decide whether the rotation can work at all: your hours, dates, patients and paperwork. Then add two or three about teaching and one about time off.

What can you say to open the call?

Thank them, introduce yourself briefly and say what your course needs. For example:

“Thank you for making time to talk with me. I’m a family nurse practitioner student at [school], and this course needs [number] hours in primary care between [start date] and [end date]. I’d love to ask a few questions about your schedule and how you work with students, and I’m happy to answer anything you’d like to know about me.”

Take notes during the call, so you can compare preceptors fairly later. Notice how they treat you and their team, too: arriving on time, giving you their full attention and speaking respectfully to staff are all good signs.

Afterward, send a short thank-you email that confirms anything you agreed on, such as your days and start date. Share your notes with your clinical coordinator before you say yes.

Which answers are good signs, and which should make you pause?

Specific answers are the best sign. A preceptor who has thought about teaching can describe how they do it.

Good signs:

• They ask about your goals and your experience.
• They describe how your independence will grow over the rotation.
• They know your school’s forms, or offer to read them before you start.

Answers to follow up on:

• A vague schedule: “We’ll figure it out as we go.”
• Brushing off paperwork: “We can deal with the forms later.”
• A plan for you to mostly watch, with no point where you start seeing patients.

If you hear one of these, ask a follow-up question and share the answer with your clinical coordinator before you accept.

How do you check a preceptor’s license?

Look up the license yourself before you accept. Check that it’s active in the state where you’ll train, and note any discipline.

• For a nurse practitioner, search Nursys QuickConfirm from the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, which lets you “look up a nurse’s license and discipline status for free.” Not every state board shares its advanced practice licenses with Nursys, so if an NP’s license doesn’t appear, use the license lookup on that state board of nursing’s website.
• For a physician or physician assistant, search the license lookup of the board that licensed them in that state.
• For board certification, ask the preceptor for a copy of their certificate for your school. Certification is harder to look up yourself: AANPCB, which now operates as NPCB, sells verification only with the nurse practitioner’s consent.

For the full picture of who can precept you and what your program checks, read our guide to NP preceptor requirements.

Questions to ask your preceptor once your rotation starts

Keep asking once you start. Good questions show your thinking and give your preceptor an easy way to teach you.

• “I think this is [diagnosis], and I’d like to [plan]. What would you add?”
• “Why did you choose that medication over the other options?”
• “What should I read tonight to prepare for tomorrow’s patients?”
• “Could I see the next [visit type] first and present to you?”

Save questions that can wait for a break between patients, and ask about anything involving a patient’s safety right away. Our tips for working with clinical preceptors cover presenting patients, using feedback and ending your rotation well.

Preceptor interviews: common questions

What should you ask a preceptor before your rotation?

The questions to ask a preceptor cover your schedule and hours, the patients you’ll see, how they teach, what you’ll do yourself, onboarding, your school’s paperwork and planned time off. Start with the ones that decide whether the rotation can work for your course.

What preceptor interview questions might you hear?

Preceptors interview you, too. Expect questions about your course, your experience so far, your goals and your availability. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs preceptor handbook, for example, tells preceptors to “Ask the student what class they are currently taking, their current rotation, and how many clinical hours they have completed so far in the program.” Have those answers ready, along with a short resume.

Can you say no to a preceptor?

Yes. If the rotation won’t meet your course’s needs, thank the preceptor promptly and kindly, since you may want to work with them in the future. If your school arranged the placement, talk with your clinical coordinator first.

What are good questions to ask a mentor?

Mentoring questions look further ahead than one rotation: how they chose their specialty, what they’d do differently as a new NP and how they found their first job. A preceptor can become a mentor over time, and our guide to preceptor vs mentor roles explains the difference.

Choose your preceptor with Clinical Match Me

With Clinical Match Me, preceptors review your placement requests and send you offers, so you choose your preceptor instead of being assigned one. When your offers arrive, these questions to ask a preceptor help you decide which one fits your course, your schedule and the way you learn. Before you accept an offer, you can meet the preceptor by video through the meeting app built into our platform.

We verify preceptor credentials before matching. When you match with an NP preceptor through Clinical Match Me and your school requires an affiliation agreement, we handle it using your school’s existing template. Already have a preceptor in mind? Tell us which preceptor you’d like, and we’ll check whether they’re available and ask them to send you an offer.

Clinical Match Me is a preceptor placement service for NP and PA students in every clinical specialty. 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. If you still need a nurse practitioner preceptor, submit your placement requests and receive offers from preceptors who match your profile. Many students receive their first preceptor offer within 24 hours of registering. Still, try to submit your placement requests as early as possible.

Free to join and no credit card required. Pay nothing until you accept an offer. Once you do, you’re protected by our Money Back Guarantee. If your school rejects your preceptor for any reason, or your preceptor cancels, you get a full refund or a replacement preceptor at no extra cost.

Sign up free and start receiving offers from preceptors who meet your requirements.