How to find midwife preceptor?

[heymami]

Hi, I was just accepted into my school's BSN program so I won't be graduating for another two and a half years, but I've wanted to be a nurse midwife for a while. I'm from Florida, and the only NM program in my state (at the University of Florida) was closed this fall. I've been looking up online programs and reading about them on this site, and I've read a bit about the challenge of finding preceptors. I am planning to live in either the Gainesville/Jacksonville/Orlando area or in south Florida, so I was wondering if anyone had any insight on the availability of preceptorships in either of those areas, or just tips in general on how to find a preceptor. I read somewhere that some preceptors have 1-2 year waiting lists, so I figured that the sooner I could begin planning ahead, the better. Thank you!

Laura

[cayenne06, MSN, CNM]

Not sure if this is at all helpful, but I would recommend finding a program that arranges clinical placements for you. I am not a fan of the trend of APRN programs requiring students to secure their own placements. It seems like a recipe for stressed out students, piecemeal clinical instruction and a lack of oversight/continuity in training.

[mamagui]

There are no CNM programs where I live, so I will have to go with an online program, and the only 2 that I am seriously considering require finding your own preceptor (although Frontier will help and already has a wide network of midwives that are certified to work with them). What I have been doing while in nursing school is volunteer at the local birth center (incidentally, also where I gave birth to my daughter) in the hopes that they will precept me later. Maybe you could look into volunteer opportunities?