GW's post-BSN DNP in Adult-Gerontology Primary Care: your clinical years, term by term

The track in brief

The DNP AGPCNP is 72 credits, taught online and admitting in the fall. To enter you need a BSN, an active and unencumbered U.S. RN license and, as GW's preference, a 3.0 GPA. GW posts one plan for it: part-time over 11 semesters, summers included, finishing in spring of year four.

Around the three primary care clinical courses sit the foundation courses every GW nurse practitioner takes (NURS 6208, NURS 6220, NURS 6222, NURS 6233, NURS 6234), eight doctoral courses covering informatics, epidemiology, organizations, research translation, quality, policy, economics and appraisal, and four DNP project courses. Like every GW post-BSN track, it awards no MSN partway through.

The program page carries GW's standard line on placement: you are encouraged to find your own preceptor, and GW can share information on local clinical sites if you need it. In practice the search is yours, and GW's program director and Clinical Placement Team review what you bring.

The long-term care hours in AGPCNP III

Under GW's 2021 guide, at least 120 of the 240 hours in NURS 6229 belong in a nursing home or long-term care setting. That is half the course, and it calls for a different preceptor from the clinic-based NP or physician who covered your earlier terms: someone who sees patients inside a facility and can bring a student along.

Facilities come with their own paperwork. If GW has no agreement with the facility yet, the Clinical Placement Team has to put one in place, and GW's 2021 guide warns that this can take weeks to months. A facility named in the spring of year four leaves little room for that; one named during year three leaves plenty. See affiliation agreements for how the contract step works.

The same guide allows up to 100 palliative or hospice hours in the course, which can sit alongside a facility rotation. Ask your course faculty whether both figures still apply before you commit a preceptor to them.

On campus: CLASI, two OSCEs and a final assessment

Primary care NP students come to campus for CLASI while enrolled in NURS 6222, which the plan places in spring of year three. OSCEs follow while you are in NURS 6225 and NURS 6229, and every GW nurse practitioner student completes an end-of-program skills assessment. GW's AGPCNP pages add that its simulation events use standardized patients in both in-person and virtual formats.

Location is where GW's sources part ways. GW's FAQ points to VSTC in Ashburn for on-campus testing, yet the 2026-27 NP events dashboard schedules the primary care and family OSCEs in Foggy Bottom's Ross Hall, on October 5–6, 2026 and February 27–28, 2027. Your own dates will appear on the dashboard for your year. Because those days land inside clinical terms, give each preceptor the dates as soon as the rotation is set. The OSCE guide has more.

How we help AGPCNP doctoral students

We treat your three rotations as one project with three distinct searches. Your placement advisor finds an adult primary care preceptor for NURS 6224, a practice that sees adolescents and women's health for NURS 6225, and a facility-based clinician for the long-term care hours in NURS 6229, all within reach of your home.

For each one we prepare what GW's review looks for: the preceptor's license, a bio or CV, the site's signatory for the affiliation agreement and a clear fit to the course. GW's program director approves every site and preceptor; we make sure your submission reaches that review complete and on time. If a preceptor has to step away mid-year, your advisor is already working on the next option.

Share your cohort year and city in the form below for a search plan built around semester 9.