GW OSCEs, simulation events and the end-of-program skills assessment
GW nurse practitioner students step away from their clinical sites for on-campus testing at fixed points: OSCEs during the second clinical course, simulation events for Acute Care, and a skills assessment before graduation. For 2026-27, the FNP and AGPCNP OSCEs fall on October 5–6, 2026 (OSCE 1) and February 27–28, 2027 (OSCE 2), both in Ross Hall in Washington, DC. Build those days into your preceptor schedule from the first week.
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Which clinical course brings each event
GW's FAQ puts OSCEs, its Objective Structured Clinical Examinations, in the second clinical course. The FNP and AGPCNP program pages are more specific and name two courses each, and the NP dashboard labels the events OSCE 1 and OSCE 2. Acute Care and Psychiatric Mental Health follow their own patterns.
| Track | Courses with an on-campus event | What GW calls it |
|---|---|---|
| FNP (MSN and post-BSN DNP) | NURS 6231 and NURS 6232 | OSCEs |
| AGPCNP (MSN, DNP, certificate) | NURS 6225 and NURS 6229 | OSCEs, plus simulation events with standardized patients, in person and virtual |
| AGACNP (MSN, DNP, certificate) | NURS 6235, NURS 6236 and NURS 6237 | AGACNP Clinical Simulation Events |
| PMHNP (MSN, DNP, certificate) | NURS 6248, from Fall 2027 | On-campus, simulation-based learning event |
| Every NP track | End of the program | Skills assessment |
The FNP plans of study flag 6231 and 6232 with an asterisk for an on-campus component, which matches the program page. The FNP post-master's certificate, now closed to new applicants, used NURS 6251 and NURS 6252 for its OSCEs.
The 2026-27 dates, and Ross Hall versus VSTC
GW's NP On-Campus Events Dashboard, checked on September 24, 2026, lists Fall 2026 OSCE 1 for the AGPCNP and FNP tracks on October 5–6 at Ross Hall, Foggy Bottom Campus. The Spring 2027 OSCE 2 runs February 27–28, in the same building. The fall dates are a Monday and Tuesday; the spring dates are a Saturday and Sunday. GW's schedule assigns your own session time.
The OSCE 1 schedule places sessions in the CLASS Center on the fourth floor of Ross Hall and in rooms Ross 104 and 104B.
That differs from GW's FAQ, which describes Ashburn's Virginia Science and Technology Campus as the place where on-campus testing and training usually happen. Both can be true in different years, and the dashboard is the newer, more specific source for 2026-27. Confirm your venue on the dashboard and in your course site before booking travel, because a DC day and an Ashburn day are very different trips for Maryland and Virginia commuters.
Acute Care simulation events in every clinical course
GW's Acute Care pages talk about simulation events rather than OSCEs. Each of the three AGACNP clinical courses, 6235, 6236 and 6237, comes with a required trip to campus for what GW calls AGACNP Clinical Simulation Events, and the Bulletin speaks of several on-campus experiences built around coursework, skills and patient assessment.
The number of events is not consistent across GW's pages. Where the program page links an event to all three clinical courses, the Acute Care certificate page refers to just two simulation-based learning events on campus. The 2026-27 dashboard entries reviewed for this page listed OSCE dates for FNP and AGPCNP only, so Acute Care students should read their own course schedule and ask the program director how many events apply to them.
Because Acute Care students live and rotate in DC, Maryland or Northern Virginia, a campus day is usually a drive rather than a flight. The AGACNP clinical courses page explains the settings for each course.
PMHNP: the NURS 6248 event arrives in Fall 2027
Psychiatric Mental Health students have taken CLASI virtually, and their plans of study show no on-campus courses. GW's PMHNP pages now add a new requirement: starting in Fall 2027, anyone taking NURS 6248 has to come to campus for a simulation-based learning event.
NURS 6248 is the last of the five PMHNP clinical courses. On GW's November 2024 plans, a part-time MSN student who entered in fall takes it in the fall of year three, so a Fall 2025 starter would be among the first group to travel. Spring starters and DNP students reach it on a later term. Check your own plan with your academic advisor.
The same course carries GW's strictest PMHNP preceptor rule, covered on the PMHNP clinical courses page. Plan the travel and the preceptor together.
The end-of-program skills assessment
GW's FAQ adds one more requirement for every nurse practitioner track: all NP students must complete an end-of-program skills assessment. It sits alongside CLASI and the OSCEs as part of GW's on-campus testing model.
GW's public pages describe the requirement but not its format, date or location, and the 2026-27 dashboard reviewed for this page listed only the OSCE and CLASI entries. The places to confirm it are your final clinical course, your program director and the NP On-Campus Events Dashboard, which GW says posts schedules about six months ahead.
The best preparation is the clinical time itself. Students who log steady, varied patient contact in their final rotation arrive at a skills assessment with the reps already done. That makes a preceptor with a full, mixed patient load worth the extra search effort for your last course.
Planning clinical hours around testing days
OSCE and simulation days land in the middle of your 240-hour courses, and every clinical hour still has to fall inside the semester dates, as the hour logs guide explains. A two-day trip in October or February means two fewer days at your site in a term with little slack.
Tell your preceptor the dates at the first meeting, not the week before. Build a schedule that front-loads hours early in the term so the testing days cost you nothing at the end. If you work, ask for the time off as soon as the dashboard posts the event. The dress code for these days, lab coat and stethoscope with no scrubs, is on the NURS 6222 and CLASI page.
OSCE dates are fixed by GW. Your clinical schedule has to bend around them, so share them with your preceptor on day one.
Why GW students choose us for OSCE-term placements
The second and third clinical courses are the heaviest in the GW sequence: 240 hours each, an on-campus exam in the middle, and often more than one preceptor. We line up preceptors for those courses with the testing calendar in view, and we raise your OSCE or simulation dates with the site at the start so the days away are planned from the outset.
Each preceptor's paperwork reaches GW ready to review: credentials, a CV or bio, the contact who signs for the site, and a note tying the placement to your course. Every Site Prospector entry is complete from the start, leaving GW's program director a clean decision. If a preceptor steps back mid-term, a replacement search begins at once. Tell us your course and term through the contact form.
Questions GW students ask
What is an OSCE at GW Nursing?
OSCE stands for Objective Structured Clinical Examination. GW uses it as an in-person test of clinical skills for FNP and AGPCNP students during their later clinical courses, and GW's AGPCNP page says its simulation events use standardized patients. GW does not post station content publicly, so your course site and faculty are the source for what each OSCE covers.
Why is my OSCE in Washington, DC when GW Nursing is in Ashburn?
GW Nursing's student services and simulation center are in Ashburn, and the school's FAQ treats that campus as the normal testing site. For 2026-27, though, the dashboard moves both FNP and AGPCNP OSCEs into the city, to Ross Hall in Foggy Bottom. Venues can change by year and event, so the dashboard entry for your term is the one to trust.
Do PMHNP students take OSCEs?
GW's PMHNP pages list no OSCEs. PMHNP students complete a virtual CLASI, and the one on-campus requirement GW names for them is a simulation-based event during NURS 6248, the last clinical course, starting Fall 2027. Check the dashboard and your 6248 course site for the date once your term is set.
Does OSCE time count toward my 600 clinical hours?
GW describes the 600 hours as clinical experience with an approved preceptor and lists OSCEs separately as on-campus testing. Nothing on GW's public pages counts testing time toward the precepted total, so plan to complete every required hour at your site. Your course faculty can confirm how your syllabus treats simulation time.
What happens if I cannot attend my OSCE date?
GW has not published a makeup or retake policy for OSCEs. Contact your course faculty and program director the moment you see a conflict, since the event is part of the course. Graduate courses at GW need a B minimum, and the grades and course failure page explains what a failed clinical course means for progression.
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.
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