NP clinicals in East Texas, UT Tyler's home region
Living near Tyler makes OSCE days a short drive, but UT Tyler's graduate NP students here still propose their own site and preceptor for faculty to approve. East Texas adds rules of its own: CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances wants a preceptor agreed before you apply, every one of the 35 counties carries a federal shortage designation, and most residents live outside metro areas.
Find an East Texas preceptor
Tell us your town, track and next UT Tyler course, and your placement advisor starts the search close to home.
East Texas at a glance
This guide covers the 35 counties Texas DSHS runs as its Piney Woods Region, Public Health Regions 4 and 5 North, from an office in Tyler. The Census Bureau put about 1.59 million people here in July 2025, roughly 5% of Texans. Only seven counties are metropolitan: Smith, Bowie, San Jacinto and the four-county Longview metro of Gregg, Harrison, Rusk and Upshur. The other 28 hold 57.8% of the region's residents.
Tyler and Longview are the largest cities, followed by Texarkana, Lufkin, Nacogdoches, Paris, Marshall and Palestine. Distances inside the region add up: from Tyler it is roughly 40 miles to Longview, 75 to Nacogdoches, 105 to Paris and 135 to Texarkana or Jasper, which is farther than Dallas.
CHRISTUS: three request routes under one agreement rule
CHRISTUS Health publishes the region's most detailed student rules, with a request route for each of its three main East Texas systems and one shared condition: a signed Clinical Education Affiliation Agreement between the school and CHRISTUS, complete before the rotation term begins.
| System and hospitals | How you request | What the page asks |
|---|---|---|
| Trinity Mother Frances: Tyler, South Tyler, the Heart Hospital, Jacksonville, Winnsboro, Sulphur Springs | Cognito Forms request | A secured preceptor, resume, the preceptor's agreement and a school good-standing letter; deadlines March 1, July 1 and November 1; reapply each semester |
| Good Shepherd: Longview, Marshall, NorthPark, the Rehabilitation Hospital | Preceptor request and instructor statement on Microsoft Forms | Due 60 days before the rotation; a new application each semester |
| St. Michael: Texarkana, Atlanta, CHRISTUS Health Pine Street (formerly Wadley Regional) | Web rotation request form | A first and a second preceptor named; one semester per request |
According to its student page, Trinity Mother Frances takes applications only once a preceptor has agreed and discourages calling around for openings. St. Michael reaches the same place by asking for two named preceptors. That clinician is where East Texas students stall, and finding one is the part your placement advisor takes on.
Other East Texas hospitals and their current owners
Most other hospitals here publish no NP-student process that could be verified, so a rotation starts with a willing clinician and then the facility's onboarding. Several changed hands recently:
- UT Health East Texas, the Ardent Health and UT System venture: the Level I trauma center in Tyler and hospitals in Athens, Carthage, Henderson, Jacksonville, Pittsburg and Quitman
- CHRISTUS Health Mount Pleasant, the former Titus Regional, sold to CHRISTUS in 2026
- Palestine Regional Medical Center (Lifepoint since June 2026) and Paris Regional Health, also Lifepoint
- Nacogdoches Medical Center (Tenet), and Nacogdoches Memorial, which the county hospital district voted in 2026 to lease to Tenet
- Longview Regional and Woodland Heights in Lufkin (Community Health Systems); St. Luke's Health Memorial in Lufkin and Livingston (CommonSpirit)
Shortage counties, rural hospitals and health centers
HRSA's files, with records dated September 25, 2026, give all 35 counties a primary care shortage designation: 17 county-wide geographic and 18 for low-income residents. Shelby, Red River and Newton top the region at 18 on HRSA's 0 to 25 scale. Mental health is thinner still, with 24 geographic designations and a score of 20 in Jasper County.
CMS lists six critical access hospitals, in Jacksonville, Winnsboro, Crockett, Hemphill, Pittsburg and Quitman, and HRSA counts 111 health center sites run by 13 organizations. The largest are Wellness Pointe (32 sites from Longview and Tyler to Gilmer and Mount Pleasant), Family Circle of Care (Tyler, Athens, Jacksonville), Genesis PrimeCare (Marshall, Texarkana, Atlanta) and Hope Community Medicine (Center, Carthage, Rusk, Lufkin).
Which East Texas settings fit each UT Tyler course
| UT Tyler course | Where to look in East Texas |
|---|---|
NURS 5453 Primary Care I (pediatrics) | Pediatric practices and family clinics that see children every day |
NURS 5454 Primary Care II (sexual and mental health) | Women's health practices, family planning clinics, health centers |
NURS 5455, NURS 5347, NURS 5349 | Rural health clinics, health centers, the CHRISTUS Trinity Clinic and UT Health East Texas clinic networks |
PMHNP NURS 5367 to NURS 5373 | Three psychiatric hospitals on the CMS list, Palestine Regional's West Campus, CORE Health Systems clinics in Longview, Texarkana and Gilmer |
AGACNP NURS 7383 to NURS 7388 | Tyler's Level I and Level II trauma hospitals; Level III centers in Longview, Texarkana and Paris |
Pediatrics is the narrow search. CHRISTUS opened East Texas's first pediatric intensive care unit, in Tyler, only in December 2025; before then the sickest children usually went to Dallas-area hospitals. NURS 5453 needs outpatient volume, so the target is a clinician with a full child caseload; see the NURS 5453 guide. PMHNP students need 125 inpatient hours across the program, and the PMHNP practicum guide covers the telehealth cap.
Living near campus: what changes and what does not
Being local shortens the trip to OSCE days, the FNP's only mandatory campus dates. The approval chain is unchanged: your proposed site and preceptor go into the Self-Placement Request, course faculty approve them, the Clinical Coordinator completes clearance, a new facility needs a signed affiliation agreement, and early hours do not count. The School of Nursing's line about partner organizations around East Texas describes where clinicals can happen, not an assignment; faculty assign placements only for pre-licensure BSN students in Tyler, Longview and Palestine.
Watch the state line. Only Texas hours count, so the Arkansas side of Texarkana and Shreveport are out, however close. Check each site's own address: the Longview and Texarkana VA clinics belong to the Shreveport-based Overton Brooks VA system. More in Texas-only clinicals.
Why East Texas UT Tyler students choose us
Your placement advisor knows which East Texas systems want a named preceptor before they accept a request, and starts there. We find the clinician, test each match against your UT Tyler course and its rules on workplaces, relatives and licenses, and assemble what the Self-Placement Request and the hospital's own form need. We time the work to CHRISTUS deadlines and UT Tyler's before-the-semester approval, keep Exxat compliance and onboarding moving, and line up a replacement if a preceptor steps away mid-term.
For a student in Crockett, Clarksville or Hemphill, that means clinicians near home rather than a list of Tyler clinics two hours away. Start with the request form.
Questions UT Tyler students ask
When should I apply to CHRISTUS Trinity Mother Frances for a fall rotation?
Its student page sets July 1 for rotations after August 1, November 1 for after December 1 and March 1 for after April 1. On UT Tyler's 2026-27 calendar, that means July 1 for a fall term opening August 27, November 1 for spring and March 1 for summer, with a preceptor's agreement in hand first.
Will UT Tyler place me at a clinic because I live near Tyler?
No. Graduate NP students at UT Tyler propose their own sites and preceptors wherever they live, and faculty coordinate, approve and clear them. Living nearby shortens the drive to OSCE days but does not change who proposes the site. If your semester is close and nobody has agreed yet, see what to do this week.
Where can an East Texas PMHNP student find inpatient psychiatric hours?
Start with the three psychiatric hospitals CMS lists in the region's 35 counties and Palestine Regional's West Campus. If nothing fits, Dallas-Fort Worth, where CMS lists 15 psychiatric hospitals, is the next place to look. Whichever you choose, the facility needs an affiliation agreement with UT Tyler before your first shift, so start a semester early.
How far ahead should I start if the hospital needs a new affiliation agreement?
A full semester ahead. UT Tyler requires sites and preceptors to be approved ahead of the term, CHRISTUS says its review of a new agreement averages 30 to 60 days, and Good Shepherd wants applications 60 days before the rotation. For a fall term starting August 27, aim for a preceptor's agreement by late spring.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UT Tyler's own catalog, syllabi, program pages and clinical policies, and Texas rules. Your course, your program coordinator and the Clinical Coordinator have the final word.
UT Tyler asks you to choose your clinical site. We find it.
Tell us your UT Tyler track, where in Texas you live and when your next clinical course starts. We find preceptors near you who fit the course and gather everything your Self-Placement Request needs, so faculty can approve it before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 5453, adult and geriatric care forNURS 5455, psychiatric care forNURS 5367 - Texas-licensed preceptors who clear UT Tyler's supervisor, relative and site rules
- Anywhere in Texas, from the Piney Woods to the Valley
Start your placement plan
Program, city and start date is all we need to begin.