Choosing a preceptor placement service as an FIU student
For Florida International University (FIU) nursing students, a placement service is only as good as its fit with FIU's own process: the course you are taking, FIU's preceptor rules, the Preceptor Request Form, the site contract and the semester-before timing. Use the checklist below to judge any service, ours included. We built ours around every one of those steps, which is why FIU students choose us.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your FIU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your FIU course.
Start with what FIU asks of you
FIU asks students in its online primary care programs, from the MSN and certificate tracks to the online DNP specialties, to name their own clinical site, and its clinical department then works on the contract. FIU describes the task, not a required method, so a student may search alone, lean on FIU's staff or bring in help.
Approval is the part that stays with FIU whatever you choose. Your faculty sign the Preceptor Request Form, FIU's Office of Clinical Education confirms the contracts and documents, and no rotation begins before the contract is signed. The real work a service can do sits upstream of that: finding the right preceptor and handing FIU a request that needs nothing more. If you are still deciding whether to use a service at all, placement help vs finding your own compares the options.
What the best FIU placement service does
Each line below comes from an FIU rule. A service that covers all eight is working with FIU's process rather than around it.
| What to look for | Why it matters at FIU | How we handle it |
|---|---|---|
| Searching by course | NGR 6201L needs adult and older-adult primary care, NGR 6301L pediatric primary care, NGR 7940C an organizational mentor | Your course number comes first, and the search follows its patients |
| Screening preceptors | A year in the field or specialty, active license, national certification, no relatives, not your own unit | Each clinician is checked before you are introduced |
| Florida licensing | In Florida, Board rule 64B9-4.001(13) needs a Florida-licensed APRN, MD, DO or dentist | License state confirmed for every Florida site |
| Contract status | No rotation before a contract; the current handbook allows 6-8 weeks for a new one | Asked on the first call to each practice |
| The request form | Preceptor, facility, specialty, address, email, course, term, days and times | Delivered complete, ready for your faculty's signature |
| FIU's calendar | Rotations set up the semester before; clinical days only inside semester dates | A plan built backward from your practicum term |
| Weekday hours | Primary care rotations run Monday to Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. | Preceptors with weekday room across the whole term |
| Support after day one | Typhon logs within 7 days, two evaluations, faculty visits | On call through the term, with a replacement search if needed |
Questions to ask before you sign up
Ask any service, including us
- Which FIU course are you searching for, and what patient population will the practice need to see?
- How do you confirm a preceptor meets FIU's experience, license and certification rules?
- When will I know if the practice has an existing FIU agreement?
- Exactly which Preceptor Request Form details will I receive?
- Which counties or cities will you search, and can you look beyond Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe?
- What happens if the preceptor withdraws before or during the term?
- What shapes the price, and when will I see a quote?
Our answers are on how it works and cost, and your placement advisor will walk through any of them with you before you commit.
Promises worth reading closely
The strongest services are specific about what they deliver and clear about who decides. Every site and preceptor is approved by FIU's faculty and its clinical education office, and FIU sets the rotation dates within its semesters, so an offer of a sure approval or a fixed start date is an offer of something only FIU can give.
A good service also keeps you inside FIU's conduct rules. The graduate handbook treats a clinical start before approval or a contract as unprofessional conduct, so the right partner times the preceptor's first day to FIU's confirmation, not to the practice's convenience. It respects FIU's relationship limits too: no family or close friends, and no hours on the unit where you work.
Finally, look at what stays yours. You still submit the request through FIU, keep your clearance account current, and record your own clinical days in Typhon. A service that prepares each of those steps well saves you time without taking your place in FIU's process.
How a service fits beside FIU's people
FIU names several roles in every rotation. Your clinical faculty sign the request, visit the site on at least two clinical days and approve your Typhon entries. The Office of Clinical Education handles contracts, and hybrid-track students deal mainly with the graduate nursing clinical coordinator on placements. Your course faculty own the syllabus and the grade.
A placement service works alongside all of them. Its part is the search, the screening and the paperwork that reaches those people, so their review is quick and the answer is yes the first time. The who does what guide lists every FIU role by title.
Why FIU students choose us
We are the placement service built for FIU nursing students, from the course numbers up. We search by your NGR course and its patients, screen each clinician against FIU's rules and Florida's license rule, check FIU contract status on the first call, and supply each field of the Preceptor Request Form on FIU's semester-before timeline.
We stay with you after the first clinical day, with Typhon's 7-day rule and your evaluation dates in view, and a preceptor who steps away sets off a replacement search the same week. Read what students say on our reviews page, then send your track, course, city and semester through the form below.
Questions FIU students ask
Can FIU students use a placement service to find a preceptor?
FIU's online-track pages place the site search with the student and leave the method open. FIU's control sits at approval: faculty sign off on the request, the clinical education office checks contracts and documents, and the rotation waits for a signed contract no matter who found the preceptor.
Does a placement service take the place of FIU's Office of Clinical Education?
No. That office arranges FIU's contracts with clinical sites and checks that each site and preceptor has the paperwork FIU needs. A placement service works before that point, finding a preceptor who fits the course and preparing the request, so the office and your faculty receive a complete package to review.
How much does a preceptor placement service cost for FIU students?
Prices vary with the program, the practicum course, where you live and how soon the term starts, so a quote depends on your situation. Our cost page explains what shapes a quote. Ask any service when you will see its price and what it covers before you commit.
Can a placement service find an FIU preceptor outside South Florida?
Yes, within FIU's rules. FIU lets online-track students train past its four home counties in South Florida, and we search wherever in Florida you live. Out-of-state sites are a question FIU leaves open, so get an answer from FIU's clinical education staff before planning one.
What should I have ready before contacting a placement service?
Your track, the practicum course number, your city or county, the term the practicum starts, and the number of hours the course needs if your syllabus states it. Add any practices that have already turned you down and the state of your clearance, so the search starts in the right place.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against FIU's own graduate handbook, preceptor manual, plans of study, catalog and licensure pages. Your plan of study, your course faculty, your clinical faculty and FIU's Office of Clinical Education have the final word.
FIU asks you to identify your clinical site. We make that the easy part.
Tell us your FIU track, where you live and which semester your next practicum starts. We find preceptors whose patients fit the course, check early whether the site already holds an FIU contract, and prepare everything the Preceptor Request Form asks for.
- Preceptors matched to the course: adult and older-adult primary care for
NGR 6201L, pediatric primary care forNGR 6301L, an organizational mentor forNGR 7940C - Preceptor, facility, license and schedule details ready for the Preceptor Request Form, weeks ahead of the contract clock
- Across Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach and Monroe, or beyond them where FIU approves your site
Start your placement plan
Track, city and semester is all we need to begin.