FIU's post-BSN to DNP: two placement searches, one program
Florida International University (FIU) is direct on its DNP overview: in the online specialties, the clinical site is yours to identify, and FIU's clinical department then works with you to get it under contract. In the post-BSN to DNP that means primary care preceptors for the NP practicums first, then an organizational mentor for the DNP project residency. We handle both searches, matched to your specialty and your semester.
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What FIU asks of post-BSN DNP students
FIU's DNP overview names four NP specialties at the doctoral level: Family, Psychiatric-Mental Health, Pediatric and Adult-Gerontology Primary Care. AGPC and PNP are predominantly online, and FIU tells students in those online specialties that identifying the clinical site is their job, done together with the clinical department, which secures the contract. FNP and PMHNP are hybrid, and for those two the clinical department offers individual placement help.
The responsibility arrives twice. In the MSN phase you need primary care preceptors for three NP practicums, the same courses the MSN AGPCNP and MSN PNP students take. In the doctoral phase, the graduate handbook asks every DNP student to find an organizational mentor for residency hours; that rotation needs sign-off from the DNP Program Director and Clinical Education, and the contract is FIU's.
In both phases, nothing starts until FIU has approved the placement and the contract is signed. Beginning clinical hours early, before approval or a contract, is treated as a conduct violation in the handbook.
The program in numbers
FIU publishes two start terms for the post-BSN to DNP, and the one you choose shifts every placement date that follows.
| Item | Fall start | Spring start |
|---|---|---|
| Application window | November 1 to February 1 | March 1 to August 1 |
| Length | 10 semesters | 11 semesters |
| Credits (AG, Child, Psych / Family) | 78 / 80 | 78 / 80 |
| MSN awarded | After semester 6, at 60 / 62 credits | At 66 / 68 credits |
| First NP practicum | Semester 4 (Fall 2) | Semester 6 (Fall 2) |
| DNP Projects I-III | Semesters 8-10 | Semesters 9-11 |
| Total clinical hours printed | 1,170 (AG, Child, Psych); 1,310 (Family) | 1,310 |
Both plans award the MSN partway through, so you can sit for national certification in your specialty before the doctoral courses. Admission asks for a Florida RN license, plus introductory statistics and health assessment.
Where each placement falls on the Fall plan
Four different kinds of clinical course sit on the Fall-start plan, and each needs its setting arranged the term before.
- Semester 2:
NGR 7892LHealth Policy Practicum40 clinical hours, your first practicum course, well before any NP rotation. - Semester 3:
NGR 6743The Clinical Education Seminar, taken while your first NP practicum site is being arranged. See the seminar page. - Semesters 4-6: NP practicums I-III
NGR 6201LtoNGR 6203Lfor AGPC, orNGR 6301LtoNGR 6303Lfor PNP, at 4, 4 and 3 credits. The MSN is awarded after semester 6. - Semester 8:
NGR 7940CDNP Project I170 hours with your organizational mentor. - Semester 9:
NGR 7941CDNP Project II165 hours. - Semester 10:
NGR 7942CDNP Project III165 hours, completing the residency.
On the Spring plan the NP practicums start in semester 6 and the projects run in semesters 9 through 11. Project hours and residency rules are covered on DNP residency and projects.
1,310 or 1,170: where the conflict comes from
Two totals appear for AGPC and PNP. FIU's DNP Clinical Education page prints 1,310 hours for every track, whether degree or post-master's certificate, and so does the plan for Spring starters. Yet the Fall-start plan, published on that very plan-of-study page, shows 1,170 for Adult-Gero, Child and Psych, with Family still at 1,310.
| Part of the program | 1,310 reading | 1,170 reading |
|---|---|---|
DNP courses: NGR 7892L 40, NGR 7940C 170, NGR 7941C 165, NGR 7942C 165 | 540 | 540 |
| NP practicum phase (MSN hours) | 770, the MSN web figure | 630, the handbook minimum |
| Total | 1,310 | 1,170 |
The doctoral courses add to 540 under either reading, so the 140-hour gap sits in the MSN phase: it is the same dispute that sets the web pages' 770 against the graduate handbook's 630. Until FIU reconciles it, read your own plan of study, ask your clinical and course faculty, bring in the Office of Clinical Education if the answers differ, and plan preceptor time for the larger figure. 770 vs 630 hours sets out every source.
Phase one: primary care preceptors for AGPC or PNP
During semesters 4 to 6 you are, for placement purposes, an online NP student like any other. An AGPC student needs preceptors whose patients are adults and older adults in primary care; a PNP student needs a pediatric primary care practice. Either way, the preceptor should bring a year or more of specialty practice, current licensure and national certification, and you should expect weekday rotations.
Because the specialties are online, your practice can be beyond FIU's home counties in South Florida, provided FIU is able to contract with it. The Preceptor Request Form covers both phases of your program: its course choices run from the clinical practicums through DNP Residency 1-3, so the same form, and the same faculty signature, carries you from NP rotations into the doctoral years.
A preceptor who works well for you can stay across semesters, but FIU also lets students change sites and preceptors each term, which helps when a practicum calls for a different patient mix.
The residency: 540 hours and the 1,000-hour rule
FIU's graduate handbook requires at least 540 supervised hours of DNP residency. Anyone who completes the program short of 1,000 post-baccalaureate practice hours can be asked for more residency time, and FIU counts practice hours at admission with a verification form.
Ask the DNP Program Director early how your practicum and residency hours count toward that 1,000. The answer tells you whether your mentor must commit to more than the three project semesters on the plan.
The residency runs under an organizational mentor, preferably one with a doctorate and expertise in your project's topic. Your employer's site is allowed, provided the hours are extra to your normal job and fall outside your shifts, and the person who usually supervises you cannot be the mentor of record. Choosing a DNP organizational mentor walks through the approval steps.
Why post-BSN DNP students choose us
We plan for the whole program, not just the next semester. That means adult-gero or pediatric primary care preceptors for practicums I-III, matched to the patients each course expects, and later an organizational mentor whose setting suits your DNP project.
For each practicum we gather what FIU's Preceptor Request Form asks for, check early whether the site holds an FIU contract, and keep the 6-8 week contract window and Typhon's 7-day rule in view. Clearance renewals matter on a ten-semester plan: the handbook renews background checks on a three-year cycle and drug screens on a two-year cycle, so both recur before you finish, and we track those dates alongside your placements.
Sites and preceptors are approved by your faculty and the Office of Clinical Education, and the mentor by the DNP Program Director. We make each of those reviews straightforward: every request arrives whole, checked and matched to FIU's rules. Use the form below to start.
Questions FIU students ask
When does FIU award the MSN in the post-BSN to DNP?
After semester six on the Fall-start plan, at 60 credits for AG, Child and Psych or 62 for Family; the Spring plan awards it at 66 or 68 credits. Receiving the MSN mid-program lets you sit for national certification in your specialty before the DNP project courses begin.
Is NGR 7892L a clinical placement?
The plan lists the Health Policy Practicum at 40 clinical hours in semester 2 of the Fall plan, which makes it the first practicum course you meet. Ask your course faculty early where those hours take place and whether the setting needs an FIU contract, since setting up a fresh one can take 6-8 weeks.
Can I start FIU's post-BSN DNP in spring?
Yes. The Spring application window runs March 1 through August 1. The Spring plan runs 11 semesters instead of 10, puts the first NP practicum in semester 6 and moves the DNP projects to semesters 9 through 11, and its printed hour total is 1,310 for every specialty.
How long do I have to finish the post-BSN DNP?
FIU's 2025-2026 handbook gives two answers. Its Dismissal Guideline allows 6 years for the post-BSN DNP, while its Degree Completion Timeline, citing university policy 380.080, gives doctoral students 9 years. Plan to the shorter limit and confirm with your advisor; time limits has the detail.
Are the FNP and PMHNP DNP specialties online?
No, FIU lists them as hybrid. Hybrid students get individual placement help from FIU's clinical department, and the DNP page's instruction to identify your own site is written for the online specialties. This page is aimed at the online AGPC and PNP paths, though the DNP residency rules apply to every specialty.
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.