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In cases where established preceptorships are not available in a student’s home area . . . students must be prepared to relocate for one or more sites if the community where they reside does not have adequate clinical training opportunities
Clinical Preceptorships
SMS uses the age-old apprenticeship model for clinical training of students. Students work side by side with our adjunct clinical faculty, who are licensed midwives and other professionals. Staff members work closely with each student in the process of arranging these clinical placements.
In cases where established preceptorships are not available in a student’s home area, it may be necessary for the student to initiate preliminary communication with potential preceptors. Students need to live within a one-hour commute of qualified clinical faculty and must be prepared to relocate temporarily if the community where they reside does not have adequate clinical training opportunities. This requires flexibility and the support of the student’s family, as it may mean separation and economic challenges.
Students may perform their clinical learning in gynecology/family planning clinics, prenatal/postpartum clinics, homebirth settings, birth centers, and hospitals in North America as well as overseas. (See Graduation Requirements in the catalog (download pdf) for more specifics about clinical training requirements.) Students may work with licensed midwives, certified professional midwives, certified nurse-midwives, nurse practitioners, foreign midwives, naturopathic doctors, physician assistants, or physicians during these rotations.
Adjunct clinical faculty must be practicing legally and have sufficient obstetrical and gynecological volume to adequately instruct, supervise, and evaluate the student’s clinical training. The school screens and approves all potential clinical faculty.