When your Spring Arbor preceptor withdraws

01The first day: four things to do

1. Tell your clinical facultyEmail them the date the preceptor withdrew, how many hours you have logged so far, and what you know about why. SAU's faculty oversee the rotation and keep in contact with preceptors, so they need to hear it from you first.
2. Secure your completed hoursMake sure every hour you have worked is logged the way your course requires and, where the course asks for it, confirmed by the preceptor before contact fades.
3. Tell your Student Success CoachSAU says coaches support students during clinical placement. Your coach can help you work out who else needs to know and what comes next.
4. Restart the searchContact any backup leads, ask SAU again for its volunteer list and already-approved sites, and bring us in if you want a wider search.

02What happens to the hours you already have

The 2023-24 catalog counts a clinical hour as time actually spent caring for or working with a patient, typically about one patient an hour. Document the hours you completed fully while the departing preceptor is still reachable, because a missing signature is much harder to collect a month later.

SAU does not publish a rule on how a partial rotation carries over when a preceptor leaves. Ask your clinical faculty how they want the completed portion recorded and whether the replacement rotation picks up the same course objectives. Clinical hour logs covers logging in more depth.

Save your own copies as you go, whatever system your course uses. If the log lives only inside a platform or a preceptor's inbox, a sudden departure can leave you reconstructing weeks of work from memory.

03A replacement starts the approval cycle again

Because approval covers a named preceptor and site for each rotation, a replacement is a new approval rather than a swap. Expect fresh paperwork: the 2023-24 catalog lists three clinical forms, covering the agreement, affiliation and preceptor verification. If the new site has never signed with SAU, the affiliation step may take longest.

The catalog's four-week lead time is written for the start of a clinical course. How it applies to a replacement partway through one is for faculty to say, so ask rather than assume. Preceptor approval explains what faculty look at when they review a new name.

04Why preceptors pull out

Most withdrawals have ordinary causes: a job change, a leave, a heavier patient load, a new employer policy on students, or a practice that found the paperwork was more than it expected. It is rarely personal, and a courteous exit keeps the door open for a later rotation or a referral.

Some SAU students have reported losing preceptors while paperwork sat in review. Whatever happens in your case, it is a reminder that a preceptor who has agreed needs regular, clear updates on where the approval stands, so the wait never feels like silence.

If the preceptor is leaving on good terms, ask whether they would be willing to confirm your completed hours and share a colleague's name. Both requests are easier while the relationship is still warm.

05Finding a replacement that fits

The replacement must meet the same rules as the first preceptor. For NP tracks that means a certified NP, a physician or a PA; for NUR 780B, a master's-prepared nurse in a specialty field also qualifies. PNP-PC students need pediatric primary care. PMHNP students are already expected to use several placements, which can make a mid-course change easier to absorb.

When we take on a replacement search, we start from your remaining hours and the weeks left in the semester, look first at practices that already work with SAU, and help gather the new site's paperwork. Faculty set the timing of the replacement's approval, and our side moves quickly so the file is waiting for them.

06Protecting the next placement

• Get the preceptor's commitment in writing, including the days and weeks they can host you.
• Offer the course objectives early; faculty send them to the preceptor, but a preview helps the practice plan.
• Keep one backup lead warm until the rotation ends.
• Check in with the preceptor after the first few shifts about how the arrangement is working for them.

Our search does not end when faculty approve a placement; if a preceptor withdraws later in the semester, we pick the work back up. If losing the preceptor leaves you short on hours, behind on clinical hours picks up from there.