Cleveland-area preceptors for YSU nurse practitioner students
Greater Cleveland's five counties hold nearly two million people and two large systems with opposite rules for NP students. Cleveland Clinic lists Youngstown State University among its eligible graduate nursing schools and matches students itself inside fixed windows; University Hospitals reviews a request only once you bring a confirmed preceptor. Health centers, MetroHealth and the independent hospitals fill in the rest of the map.
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Tell us your YSU program and where you live. A placement advisor replies with preceptor and site options in your community that fit your YSU course.
Five counties along Lake Erie
The region follows the Ohio Department of Health's Region 2, the area the Northeast Ohio Healthcare Coalition serves. Cuyahoga counts 1,232,925 residents in the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate, Lorain 323,219, Lake 232,217, Ashtabula 96,713 and Geauga 95,676.
Cleveland, Parma, Lakewood, Euclid and Beachwood fill Cuyahoga; Lorain, Elyria and Oberlin lie west; Mentor, Painesville and Willoughby sit in Lake; Chardon anchors Geauga; Ashtabula and Conneaut run east toward Pennsylvania. USDA's 2023 codes put all five counties in a metro area of a million or more, Ashtabula included.
Ashtabula, roughly 60 miles from YSU, is the nearest part. With no campus days in the online NP programs, only the drive to your preceptor matters.
Cleveland Clinic: YSU is on the list, the clinic picks the preceptor
Cleveland Clinic runs its main campus plus Fairview, Hillcrest, Lutheran, Marymount, South Pointe, Euclid and Avon hospitals here. Graduate nursing preceptor requests go through ACEMAPP, and the eligible schools list includes Youngstown State University. According to its graduate student page, applicants need good academic standing, school approval of the placement, an active Ohio RN license, a current affiliation agreement and academic credit.
The Office of Advanced Practice Nursing does the matching and contacts the student when a preceptor turns up. Students and school representatives are asked not to phone or email individual sites or caregivers, the clinic grants no exceptions to its periods, and it weighs a school's distance from its facilities when setting up affiliations.
| Rotation dates | Apply | Decision by |
|---|---|---|
| January 1 to May 14 | July 1 to September 30 | October 31 |
| May 15 to August 15 | December 1 to February 28 | March 31 |
| August 16 to December 31 | March 1 to May 31 | June 30 |
Set each YSU practicum against these rows. A practicum that falls between January and mid-May needs its application in by September 30, months before YSU's own two-month deadline.
University Hospitals: arrive with a preceptor
University Hospitals runs UH Cleveland Medical Center, home to Rainbow Babies & Children's and MacDonald Women's, along with Ahuja in Beachwood, St. John in Westlake, Parma, Elyria, Geauga in Chardon, Geneva, Conneaut, TriPoint in Concord, Lake West in Willoughby and UH Beachwood. Its APP page on ACEMAPP says the preceptor and the needed EMR access are confirmed before the process starts, both of you need ACEMAPP profiles, and each preceptor takes a separate application.
UH's periods: January 1 to April 1 for summer rotations, March 1 to July 31 for fall, and August 1 to December 1 for winter and spring. UH Bedford and UH Richmond now run as outpatient campuses with inpatient care discontinued, even though the Northeast Ohio consortium list still names them, so neither suits AGACNP inpatient hours.
MetroHealth, Mercy Lorain and the independents
MetroHealth, Cuyahoga County's public system, runs MetroHealth Medical Center and HRSA-listed health center sites in Cleveland, Cleveland Heights and Bedford. According to its pages as indexed by search engines, its APRNs logged more than 50,000 hours precepting APRN students over two years, and its practicum program offers non-APRN practicums to RN to BSN, MSN, DNP and PhD students, worth a look for Nursing Education students. Confirm its current APRN request route with your clinical faculty.
Mercy Health Lorain Hospital and Mercy Health Allen Hospital in Oberlin belong to Bon Secours Mercy Health, which posts no current NP student process. Southwest General in Middleburg Heights, an independent hospital partnered with University Hospitals, and Ashtabula County Medical Center post no NP student pages either. Treat all four as landmarks and check with your faculty first.
Health centers and shortage areas
HRSA lists 92 active health center sites in the five counties, 14 school-based and 10 mobile, across 12 organizations. Circle Health Services runs 17 in Cleveland, Northeast Ohio Neighborhood Health Services 13 in Cleveland and Euclid, Care Alliance 12, and Signature Health 11 from Lakewood to Painesville and Ashtabula. Lorain County Health & Dentistry has 6 in Elyria, Lorain, North Ridgeville and Oberlin.
Shortage designations split the region. Ashtabula has a whole-county primary care designation for its low-income population; Cuyahoga, Lorain and Lake have designations covering parts of each county; Geauga has none, the only county here without one. Cuyahoga posts the top primary care score, 23, although 12 of its 24 primary care designations are proposed for withdrawal. Designated neighborhoods and their health centers are strong starting points for FNP primary care hours.
Planning YSU practicums around Cleveland's calendars
FNP practicums NURS 7061 to NURS 7065 need primary care, with YSU's recommended 200 adult, 100 pediatric and 75 women's health hours at minimum. AGACNP practicums NURS 7071 to NURS 7075 need acute care: intensive care, hospital medicine, emergency and trauma, specialty units.
Two cautions apply here. If you live in Pennsylvania or West Virginia, Cleveland Clinic's call for an active Ohio RN license does not say whether a multistate compact license from another state counts, so ask before applying; the RN license guide has the background. And every system in the region that publishes rules expects an affiliation agreement with your school, so ask your clinical faculty early whether YSU holds one (affiliation agreements).
Why Cleveland-area students choose us
University Hospitals wants a confirmed preceptor, and that is exactly what we find. For Cleveland Clinic, which matches students itself, we help you meet its window and keep a second preceptor lined up outside the clinic. Our search reaches health centers, independent practices and hospitalist and urgent care groups, and each preceptor is screened against your YSU practicum before the request goes to your clinical faculty.
YSU encourages you to find your own preceptors and wants each one submitted two months before the practicum, with 90 days' notice to the Graduate Clinical Coordinator if you cannot (approval timeline). We keep the next preceptor in progress while you finish this term. Tell us about your practicum.
Questions YSU students ask
Is YSU on Cleveland Clinic's list of eligible schools?
Yes. Cleveland Clinic's graduate nursing page on ACEMAPP lists Youngstown State University among the schools it will consider and says it cannot consider students from schools that are not listed. Being listed lets you apply inside the window; the Office of Advanced Practice Nursing still decides whether a preceptor match exists.
Can I contact a Cleveland Clinic nurse practitioner I already know?
Cleveland Clinic asks students and school representatives not to call or email individual sites or caregivers about placements, since matching runs through its ACEMAPP application. If a clinician you know works there, tell your clinical faculty and still apply through the window rather than arranging it informally.
I live in Pennsylvania. Can I train at a Cleveland hospital?
YSU accepts Pennsylvania residents and Ohio practicums, but Cleveland Clinic asks for an active Ohio RN license and does not say whether a multistate license from another compact state qualifies. Ask the clinic before you apply. The Pennsylvania guide covers training closer to home instead.
Does University Hospitals assign preceptors to NP students?
Its APP page on ACEMAPP says the preceptor and EMR access must be confirmed before the process starts, with ACEMAPP profiles for both of you and one application per preceptor. In practice, you bring the preceptor, then apply inside UH's period for that term.
Are UH Bedford and UH Richmond still hospitals?
No. University Hospitals now runs both as outpatient campuses with inpatient services discontinued, though the Northeast Ohio ACEMAPP consortium list still names them. Check any site's current status with your clinical faculty before you build a practicum around it, especially for AGACNP hours.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-26
We check these pages against YSU's own catalog, graduate handbook, online program pages and FAQ, and Ohio rules. Your clinical faculty, the Graduate Clinical Coordinator and your advisor have the final word.
YSU asks you to secure your preceptor. We find one near you.
Tell us your YSU track, where you live and when your next practicum starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the practicum, check YSU's rules and hand you what the preceptor request needs, two months ahead, with the next term's preceptor already in view.
- Primary care preceptors for FNP practicums
NURS 7061toNURS 7065, acute care for AGACNPNURS 7071toNURS 7075 - Outside your own unit and away from your supervisor, in a state YSU accepts
- Across Ohio, from the Mahoning Valley to Cincinnati, and in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Michigan
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