What the best CUW placement service does for you

It checks the preceptor before CUW has to

Graduate faculty review each preceptor's credentials, so a strong service does that review first. Using CUW's own archived criteria, we confirm the preceptor type (NP, PA, CNM, or MD or DO in the 2014-15 handbook), a current unencumbered license, national board certification where CUW has asked for it, and enough years in practice. CUW's sources disagree on that last point, one year in 2014-15 and two in the 2022 FAQ, so we plan for the stricter figure unless your faculty say otherwise.

Conflict rules get the same attention. Your own health care provider, a family member's provider and your own unit at work were all excluded in CUW's archived rules. For Wisconsin clinicals, the preceptor also needs an unencumbered Wisconsin license or privilege at or above your target level under N 1.08(6). The preceptor requirements guide keeps each rule with its date.

It raises the contract question on day one

The clinical contract is where timelines break. CUW's 2014-15 handbook allowed 8 to 12 weeks for a new one and barred patient care until it was signed, and a clinical began only when the contract, the approved documents and the semester were all in place. Some Wisconsin systems add their own layer: school-only requests, early deadlines, and, at two large systems, no new affiliation agreements at all.

So the best service asks, before you commit, whether the site already has a contract with CUW or will need one, and whether the organization runs its own student process. You learn which sites can start this term and which belong in next term's plan, instead of finding out after the proposal is in. The contracts guide explains the archived process.

Questions to ask before you choose

• Does the service know CUW's clinical course numbers and hour totals for your track?
• Will it check your program's row on CUW's disclosure before approaching an out-of-state site?
• Does it collect the preceptor's license, certification and CV before your proposal goes in?
• Will it tell you early whether a site needs a new clinical contract?
• Does it plan all of your remaining clinicals, not just the next one?
• Who finds the replacement if a preceptor leaves mid-course, and how quickly does that start?

We answer each of those the same way: we do it, from the first call, and that is why CUW students choose us. See what shapes a quote, compare the three routes to a preceptor, or tell us your track and start term.