The Advanced Health Assessment intensive in Mequon
NURS 6038 Advanced Health Assessment is a hybrid course with a short in-person stretch. Concordia University Wisconsin's 2026-27 catalog calls it a 2-3 day hands-on, interactive on-campus experience, while the FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP program pages say three days. Plan for three days at CUW's Mequon campus, confirm the dates with your course, and have your first clinical preceptor settled before you travel, because the first clinical course comes right after.
Get your placement plan
Tell us your CUW program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with the preceptor and site options that fit your course.
One course, several stated lengths
CUW describes the same on-campus requirement in different ways on different pages. None of them is wrong on purpose; they were written at different times and for different programs. When your dates arrive, the course syllabus and faculty decide.
| CUW source | What it says | Programs |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-27 catalog | A 2-3 day hands-on, interactive on-campus experience | MSN, Post-BSN to DNP, CAGE FNP or AGPCNP |
| FNP and AGPCNP program pages | A required three-day on-campus intensive, plus a one-day online orientation | MSN FNP, MSN AGPCNP |
| PMHNP MSN and PMHNP DNP pages | A required 3-day on-campus workshop during Advanced Health Assessment | MSN PMHNP, PMHNP DNP |
| Post-BSN to DNP program page | A mandatory four-day on-campus residency | Post-BSN to DNP (not in the catalog) |
| CAGE progression plan dated February 2021 | A two-week residency in January | CAGE (older plan, still linked) |
Book travel only after your course confirms the dates; CUW does not publish them on its public pages.
Who goes to campus, and who does not
Most graduate NP students attend. The course appears in the MSN FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP, both FNP dual degrees, the Post-BSN to DNP and the CAGE FNP or AGPCNP, where the catalog notes the hybrid format for students taking the course at CUW. The Direct Entry MSN also includes NURS 6038, with its labs held at either the Mequon or Ann Arbor campus.
Three groups have a different picture. PMHNP DNP students can transfer the course in if they already completed a lifespan Advanced Health Assessment, although the program page still lists a 3-day workshop. The PMHNP certificate is described as fully online, with local practicum hours and no campus session named. The Post-MSN DNP has no health assessment course; its on-campus event is the final cohort meeting at graduation, after a Zoom orientation.
CAGE credit requirements vary with prior coursework, so a certificate student with a recent health assessment course should ask whether NURS 6038 still applies.
Where the course falls in your plan
NURS 6038 usually runs as an 8-week Session II course. The catalog's sample plans put it in semester 4 for the MSN FNP and AGPCNP, and in semester 2 for the MSN PMHNP and the Post-BSN to DNP. In 2026-27, Session II begins October 19 in the fall and March 15 in the spring, but the dates of the on-campus days inside the session are not public.
The hybrid format is fairly new. A CUW program page captured in April 2024 said that, starting in fall 2024, Advanced Health Assessment would include the 2-3 day on-campus experience, and the note has been in the catalog since 2024-25. Before that, the MSN described a one-day mandatory on-campus orientation held around August and January. The semester calendar has the full 2026-27 dates.
Why the intensive starts your clinical clock
Health assessment is a gate. NURS 6038 is a listed prerequisite for NURS 7151, NURS 7265, NURS 8123 and NURS 8226, and CUW's 2022 program FAQ said clinical courses begin right after Health Assessment. In other words, the semester you travel to Mequon is the semester your first preceptor has to be secured.
Count backward with CUW's archived lead times. The undated proposal form asked for the site proposal no later than 4 weeks before clinicals, and the 2014-15 handbook warned a new contract could take 8 to 12 weeks. For a Clinical I starting January 11, 2027, a 12-week contract would need to begin around mid-October 2026, the same week Session II opens. Confirm current deadlines with the Graduate Clinical Coordinator; the clinical deadlines page lays out the rest.
Getting to the Mequon campus
The online NP programs name only Mequon for their on-campus sessions: Concordia University Wisconsin, 12800 North Lake Shore Drive, Mequon, Wisconsin. CUW's School of Nursing page describes a new nursing wing of about 26,000 square feet of new construction plus 11,650 square feet of renovated space. Concordia University Ann Arbor, CUW's Michigan campus, hosts Direct Entry MSN labs, not the online NP intensive.
CUW's 2022 program FAQ listed lodging for the on-campus Health Assessment among the extra costs students should expect, alongside background checks, drug testing and immunizations. Arrange time off from work as soon as your course posts the dates, and leave room for travel on either side. International students on F-1 visas are not eligible for the online formats.
Arrive with your first preceptor already lined up
The weeks around the intensive are the best time to finish your Clinical I search, and our placement desk works to that timeline. We start before you leave for Mequon, find primary care or mental health clinicians near home who fit your first clinical course, and gather the license, board certification, CV and site details CUW's graduate faculty review.
We also flag whether the practice needs a new clinical contract, so that step starts while you are still in class. You come home from the intensive with a preceptor who has said yes and paperwork that is moving. Tell us your track and your health assessment semester through the form below, or read how it works.
Questions CUW students ask
Is the CUW health assessment intensive in Mequon or Ann Arbor?
For the online NP programs, CUW's pages name only Mequon-based on-campus sessions, and the catalog simply says on campus. Ann Arbor appears only for the Direct Entry MSN, whose students must be able to attend labs at either campus. Your course confirms the location with the dates.
How many days is the CUW on-campus intensive?
Sources differ. The 2026-27 catalog says 2-3 days, the FNP, AGPCNP and PMHNP program pages say three, and the Post-BSN to DNP page describes a four-day residency the catalog does not mention. Plan for three days plus travel, then follow the dates and schedule your course gives you.
Do PMHNP certificate students have to come to campus?
CUW describes the PMHNP certificate as fully online coursework paired with local practicum hours, and names no on-campus session for it. The PMHNP MSN and PMHNP DNP pages do list a 3-day workshop during Advanced Health Assessment. The PMHNP certificate page has more on that program.
Can I start clinicals before finishing NURS 6038?
No. The catalog lists Advanced Health Assessment, as NURS 638 or NURS 6038, as a prerequisite for the first FNP and AGPCNP clinicals and for Residency I in the Post-BSN to DNP, and CUW's registration policy drops students whose prerequisites were not completed successfully.
Is there still an on-campus orientation at the start of the MSN?
Not in person. The FNP and AGPCNP pages now describe a one-day online orientation at the start of the program. CUW's 2022 MSN page described a one-day mandatory on-campus orientation, held around August and January, before the hybrid health assessment format arrived in fall 2024.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against CUW's own academic catalog, program pages and published nursing documents. Your course faculty and the Graduate Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
CUW asks you to secure your preceptors. We make the search the easy part.
Tell us your CUW track, your city and your next clinical course. We line up preceptors who fit the NURS course, gather the license, board certification and site details CUW's graduate faculty review, and flag early whether the site needs a new clinical contract.
- Preceptors matched to the course: primary care for FNP and AGPCNP, mental health settings for PMHNP, an agency mentor for DNP projects
- Preceptor license, certification, CV and site details ready for CUW's approval
- All three clinical courses planned together, close to home in a state CUW's disclosure lists for your program
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Track, city and next clinical course is all we need to begin.