When Kayla enrolled in her PMHNP program, she had the usual checklist: stethoscope, laptop, coffee subscription, and the dream of helping people through psychiatric care. What she didn’t have was a clinical site—or any idea how hard it would be to find one.
Like many nurse practitioner students across the country, Kayla assumed the school would help her with placement. And they tried—but when her start date for clinicals loomed just three months away and she hadn’t received a single confirmed site, she realized she was going to have to take matters into her own hands.
The hunt for Chicago psych preceptors had officially begun. And it would be harder than any exam she’d taken.
Chapter One: “We’re Not Taking Students Right Now”
Kayla started calling every behavioral health clinic she could find in Chicago: Rogers Behavioral Health, Compass, local telehealth groups, solo practitioners, even urgent cares that only sometimes saw psychiatric patients.
Each call followed a similar arc.
“Hi, my name is Kayla, I’m a psych NP student in need of a preceptor—”
“We’re full.”
“We’re not taking students.”
“We used to, but not anymore.”
“Try us again next year.”
She even had one front desk worker tell her bluntly, “You and everybody else. We’ve had three students call this week.”
Kayla didn’t take it personally. But she was starting to feel like finding a Chicago psych preceptor was a full-time job—with no paycheck, no leads, and no HR department.
Chapter Two: The Almost-Match
About six weeks into her search, Kayla finally got a glimmer of hope. A colleague at her part-time RN job mentioned that her friend, a psychiatric nurse practitioner in Evanston, might be open to precepting.
“I think she takes students from time to time,” her co-worker said. “Want me to connect you two?”
Kayla sent the most carefully-worded email of her life, attached her CV, included her school’s forms, and waited.
Two days later, the NP replied:
“I’d love to help, but my clinic doesn’t allow outside students anymore unless it’s through a formal school contract. Sorry!”
Another door, softly closed.
Chapter Three: Should I Just Delay My Rotation?
At this point, Kayla started doing the math. If she delayed her clinicals, she’d graduate six months later. That meant more tuition, more debt, more time before getting licensed and working as a provider.
She didn’t want to delay, but she was running out of options—and time.
“I had friends in Arizona and Texas who found psych preceptors in two weeks,” she told her roommate. “But in Chicago? It’s like trying to find a therapist who actually has weekend hours. It just doesn’t happen.”
Kayla posted in Facebook groups, DM’d providers on LinkedIn, and even considered flying out of state for a rotation. But traveling didn’t make financial sense.
And then, at the 11th hour, she found Preceptor Tree.
Chapter Four: The Breakthrough
Kayla stumbled across Preceptor Tree while reading a Reddit thread titled “Is it literally impossible to find a psych preceptor in Chicago?”
Someone in the comments wrote: “Try Preceptor Tree. They helped me get a site in Naperville. Not cheap, but worth it.”
Kayla clicked the link, filled out a quick form, and within 48 hours, she was on a call with someone from the placement team.
“What kind of setting are you looking for?” they asked.
“Preferably outpatient psychiatry, but I’ll take anything that meets the hour requirement.”
The rep explained they worked with a network of Chicago psych preceptors—licensed NPs and MDs who already had experience teaching and were familiar with the school’s requirements.
Three days later, Kayla received a match. A board-certified psychiatric nurse practitioner on the north side, with openings in her private practice.
Kayla emailed her paperwork. The preceptor signed within a week.
“I cried,” Kayla said. “Not because I got the site, but because it felt like someone finally understood what we go through just to learn.”
Chapter Five: Beyond the Hours
Kayla completed her rotation in that Chicago clinic over 16 weeks. She sat in on medication management appointments, observed psychiatric evaluations, helped implement care plans, and finally got to practice the skills she’d only read about in textbooks.
Her preceptor, it turned out, had once been in Kayla’s shoes.
“I had to beg my way into a rotation when I was a student,” she told her. “Now I try to say yes when I can.”
The experience didn’t just fulfill her hour requirement—it gave her confidence, clarity, and a new mentor.
Conclusion: A Message to Other Students
If you’re a PMHNP student searching for Chicago psych preceptors, know this:
You’re not alone. And you’re not doing anything wrong. The system is broken, oversaturated, and under-coordinated.
But there are providers out there who want to teach. Sometimes you just need help finding them.
Kayla’s advice?
“Start early. Be persistent. And don’t be afraid to use services like Preceptor Tree. Because when you finally walk into that first clinical day, it won’t matter how you got there—only that you did.”
