GW's Nurse-Midwifery MSN: two semesters of clinical immersion
GW's midwifery MSN front-loads the didactic work and saves the clinical side for two immersion semesters worth 840 hours with a seasoned preceptor. It is 50 credits online, admits in fall only, and moves at two courses a semester. GW's midwifery faculty work with the Clinical Placement Team to help you secure sites near home, and the search for your immersion midwife still needs to start well before semester 7.
Find your immersion midwife
Tell us where you live and when semester 7 begins. Your placement advisor looks for midwives who can commit to both immersion terms.
How the midwifery MSN is built
The program page describes a steady rhythm: two courses each semester, with every course except role integration completed before immersion takes over the final two terms. GW posts a single plan, fall entry and part-time, but that PDF has not been archived, so the full semester-by-semester layout is not public.
| Course | Title | Credits |
|---|---|---|
NURS 6311 | Midwifery Management I: Primary and Gynecologic Care | 3 |
NURS 6312 | Midwifery Management II: Pregnancy Care | 3 |
NURS 6313 | Midwifery Management III: Labor and Birth Care | 3 |
NURS 6314 | Midwifery Management IV: Postpartum and Newborn Care | 3 |
NURS 6315 | Midwifery Role Exploration | 3 |
NURS 6321 | Application of Midwifery Model of Care I (clinical immersion) | 7 |
NURS 6322 | Application of Midwifery Model of Care II (clinical immersion) | 7 |
NURS 6325 | Midwifery Role Integration | 2 |
The remaining credits come from GW's graduate core: evidence-based practice, biostatistics, advanced physiology, NURS 6222 health assessment, genetics and pharmacology. The Bulletin's course list still carries NURS 6310 and NURS 6320, the older role courses, while the 2026-27 program table uses NURS 6315 and NURS 6325.
840 hours across two immersion semesters
All of the precepted midwifery practice sits in NURS 6321 and NURS 6322, seven credits each, for 840 clinical hours in total. GW does not publish how those hours divide between the two courses; an even split would be 420 a term, but your syllabus and CORE set the real figures.
Immersion begins once the didactic courses are complete, and the program page schedules CLASI for the opening of semester 7, ahead of your first immersion shift. Counting every term, summers included, from a fall start, semester 7 is a fall term, so the first immersion course most likely runs in fall and the second in the spring after. Confirm your exact terms on your plan of study; the midwifery clinical immersion page covers the two courses in depth.
As in every GW graduate clinical course, hours count only after your clearance notification and only inside semester dates.
Support from faculty and the placement team
Midwifery is the graduate track where GW's program page offers the most hands-on help with sites. In GW's words, the midwifery faculty and the placement team help students secure sites where they live, drawing on a network of midwives that reaches from metro DC across the country and leans toward birth centers and home birth.
Support works best when you bring names to it. GW's FAQ still describes a process driven by the student's own request, and every placement goes through CORE as a Site Prospector submission, then program director review and an affiliation agreement. Arrive with practices near you, midwives you have worked beside and birth centers where you would like to train.
GW's FAQ measures midwifery placements against the ACNM's core competencies for basic midwifery practice. Its 2021 clinical placement guide accepts a CNM as preceptor if the midwife has practiced at an advanced level for two years or longer and holds a license without restrictions. The full list is on the preceptor requirements page.
CLASI in semester 7 and the Birth Center workshop
Midwifery students meet CLASI at a different point from nurse practitioner students. Rather than attending during NURS 6222, you come to campus at the start of semester 7, immediately before clinical immersion. By the completion of year two, you also finish GW's How to Start a Birth Center Workshop.
Most GW on-campus testing and training, according to its FAQ, happens in Ashburn at VSTC. Check GW's schedule for your CLASI date as soon as it posts, and tell your immersion preceptor about it when you confirm your start, since it lands at the very opening of the term. The general format of CLASI is explained on our NURS 6222 and CLASI page.
ACME accreditation: two versions on GW's own pages
Two GW texts disagree about the program's standing with the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME). The 2026-27 Bulletin calls it fully accredited. The midwifery program page, as captured in June 2026, uses the word pre-accredited. The catalog is the more recent of the two, yet its 2026-27 edition carries a provisional label, and GW's website has not been updated to match.
Accreditation reaches beyond the diploma, because a clinical site may ask about it before accepting a student. If a birth center or hospital practice raises the question, give them the current status from your program director rather than quoting either sentence alone. Our accreditation page gathers GW's accreditations in one place.
Timing the immersion search
- Year oneWork through the midwifery management courses and start a list of midwives, birth centers and hospital practices within reach of home.
- By the end of year twoComplete the Birth Center workshop and begin outreach. GW cautions that plenty of preceptors are spoken for over a year ahead.
- About four months before semester 7File the Site Prospector in CORE by GW's request date for that term; the website lists May 1 for fall. Compare the CORE workshop's priority dates on our deadlines page.
- Agreement and ComplioA birth center without a GW contract has to sign one first, and GW's 2021 guide put that process at weeks or even months. Buy Complio no more than four months ahead. More on affiliation agreements.
- Semester 7CLASI on campus, then immersion begins with
NURS 6321, followed byNURS 6322.
Why midwifery students choose our placement desk
An 840-hour immersion rests on one strong placement, and we treat it that way. Your placement advisor searches for certified nurse-midwives near you in hospital practices, birth centers and home-birth practices, checks that they can commit to both immersion terms, and confirms the fit with GW's competency expectations before anything reaches CORE.
We prepare the midwife's license and bio or CV and the practice's signatory details for the affiliation agreement, so a site new to GW can start its paperwork early. Our search adds to the help GW's faculty and placement team already give, and if a preceptor has to step away, the replacement search starts immediately. Approval stays with GW's program director; our part is a submission that answers every question up front. Tell us your location through the contact form.
Questions GW students ask
Does my midwifery immersion site have to be near Washington, DC?
No. GW describes a network of midwives that stretches well beyond the capital region, and the program is online, so you can look for a midwife near home. Hold an RN license for the state your site is in, and note that a few states fall outside where GW's online programs can currently enroll students. Check state authorizations before you settle on a site.
Does GW still use Shenandoah University for midwifery clinicals?
Not according to the current program page. An older version of GW's midwifery page said sites and preceptors were managed by Shenandoah University faculty and staff under a partnership. The 2026 page describes GW's own program, with its midwifery faculty and Clinical Placement Team helping students secure sites.
Can I start GW's midwifery MSN in spring?
No. GW admits Nurse-Midwifery students in fall only, on a part-time schedule of two courses per term. If you miss a fall intake, the next entry point is the following fall, so plan both your application and your eventual immersion search around that single start date.
Who can be my midwifery preceptor at GW?
GW's program page asks for a seasoned preceptor, and its FAQ ties midwifery placements to the ACNM core competencies. GW's 2021 guide lists CNM, NP, MD and DO credentials with two years in advanced practice. For immersion, a certified nurse-midwife is the natural fit; ask your program director which credentials count for each course.
How many hours a week does GW's midwifery immersion take?
GW publishes no weekly maximum or set schedule. The 840 hours fill two semesters, so an even split means about 420 per term, all within semester dates. Your preceptor's call and clinic schedule shape the week. Talk with your program director before planning paid work around immersion.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-24
We check these pages against GW's Bulletin and GW Nursing's own program and clinical pages. Your course, CORE and GW's Clinical Placement Team have the final word.
GW asks you to find your own site and preceptor. Hand that search to us.
Tell us your GW program, where you live and which clinical course is next. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the license, bio and site details GW's review asks for, so your Site Prospector goes in complete.
- Preceptors matched to the course: family practice for
NURS 6230toNURS 6232, older-adult primary care for AGPCNP, psychiatric care for PMHNP - License, bio or CV and the site's agreement signatory ready for your CORE submission
- Close to home, in DC, Maryland, Virginia or wherever you live and hold your RN license
Start your placement plan
Your program, city and next clinical term is all we need to begin.