NURS 6980 Synthesis: the largest block of UCCS clinical hours
NURS 6980 Synthesis Practicum is the last and largest clinical course for UCCS FNP and AGNP students: 360 hours for students who began before Fall 2026, and 440 for Fall 2026 entrants and later. It is also the only course where specialty clinics, banked hours and campus simulation can count, which makes it the rotation that rewards early planning most.
Build my Synthesis placements
Tell us your track, start term, Synthesis semester and any specialty you want to include.
Getting into Synthesis
NURS 6980 follows every other primary care course. The catalog requires NURS 6900 (FNP) or NURS 6950 (AGNP), plus NURS 6915, NURS 6925, NURS 6960 and NURS 6982 if your plan includes it. An incomplete in any of those courses keeps you out of Synthesis until it is cleared. For FNP students the population rotation behind it is pediatrics; for AGNP students it is geriatrics, which also shares the facility-hour allowance with Synthesis.
The catalog lists the course at 1 to 8 credits. At 8 credits the hours work out to 360 or 440 (our arithmetic from UCCS's hours per credit), matching the handbook figures. You still need a B (84%) or better, and failing the clinical part means repeating the course hours with it; the grades page has the rest of the progression rules.
Synthesis and Pre-Synthesis hours by start term
| Course | Started before Fall 2026 | Started Fall 2026 or later |
|---|---|---|
| NURS 6980 Synthesis Practicum | 360 | 440 |
| NURS 6982 Pre-Synthesis Practicum (if assigned) | 45 to 90 | 55 to 110 |
NURS 6982 is "not required of all students." It runs 1 to 2 credits, needs one primary care course first, and allows no specialty hours. UCCS does not publish how its hours fit inside the 630 or 770 total, so check your degree plan and ask the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator if it appears there.
Over a 16-week semester, 360 hours comes to about 22.5 a week and 440 to about 27.5 (our arithmetic). The handbook expects roughly two logged patients per hour in Synthesis, which is about 720 or 880 encounters across the course. Hours count only while you are registered, never before the term starts or between terms.
What Synthesis can include
Synthesis is the one course where UCCS widens the settings. It stays outpatient: hospital, inpatient and ED hours never count. Within that, the handbook sets these building blocks.
| Source of hours | Most it can add | Handbook condition |
|---|---|---|
| Specialty clinics | 110 | Dermatology, orthopedics, interventional pain, outpatient palliative care, allergy/immunology or cardiology; others case by case; adult pulmonology for AGNP |
| Mental health clinic | Within the specialty 110 | About 30 mental health hours are recommended; clinic hours count only here |
| Urgent care | 110 | On top of up to 110 in earlier rotations |
| Assisted living or skilled nursing (AGNP) | 110 | Usable in NURS 6950 or NURS 6980 |
| Long-term care and hospice (FNP) | 55 each | Encouraged in Synthesis |
| Banked hours | 55 | Extra hours at your current site, approved by the coordinator, applied only here |
| Campus simulation or skills lab | 20 | Held on the UCCS campus; alternatives through the Option Coordinator |
Telehealth stays capped at 45 hours for the whole program. The FNP and AGNP counting rules give the complete list.
Why Synthesis takes more than one preceptor
UCCS caps the hours you may log with one preceptor or at one site at 330, with an exception for major health systems. Both Synthesis totals, 360 and 440, run past that line, so outside a major health system you will need at least two preceptors or sites.
The upside: the limit of three new Affiliation Agreements per semester does not apply in Synthesis, so adding a specialty clinic or an urgent care site leaves room to spare. Each preceptor still needs a Clinical Site Sheet with an exact hour figure, and the figures across your sheets should add up to what the course requires. Time with a preceptor missing from a processed sheet stops counting after 16 hours.
If a preceptor from NURS 6915, NURS 6925 or your population rotation continues into Synthesis, ask the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator how the hours you already logged with them apply to the limit.
Neither Synthesis total fits under the 330-hour single-preceptor cap, so plan a second preceptor or site from the start unless your site is part of a major health system.
Timing the Synthesis search
Start at least 3 to 6 months ahead, as the handbooks advise, and send your site sheets earlier than the semester before the course whenever you can. Legal review of a fresh agreement runs 6 to 8 weeks or more when issues come up, and occasionally those issues rule a site out. With several sites in play, one slow agreement can delay a whole block of hours.
Specialty clinics deserve an early start, because their 110 hours can only be used in this course. Banked hours need coordinator approval, so raise them while you are still at the site that will provide them.
If a preceptor drops out mid-course, the replacement still needs a site sheet and a signed letter before hours count. The preceptor-dropped-out page and the lead time guide cover both situations.
How we build your Synthesis roster
Synthesis is where our planning shows most. The placement desk maps your 360 or 440 hours into blocks: a primary care anchor and, if you want them, a specialty clinic, urgent care, or for AGNP students facility hours, each inside the handbook's limits and the 330-hour cap.
We search every block where you live, vet each preceptor against UCCS's credential rules, and prepare the site sheet details for each: names and credentials, site information, the person with authority to sign, and exact hours that add up to your total. UCCS approves every site and preceptor; we make sure each file reaches the college complete and on time.
Your placement advisor tracks the whole roster across the semester and moves fast on a replacement if any block falls through. Use the form below or see how it works.
Questions UCCS students ask
Is NURS 6982 Pre-Synthesis required?
Not for everyone; UCCS says the course is not required of all students, and your degree plan shows whether you take it. When assigned, it carries 45 to 90 hours (before Fall 2026) or 55 to 110 (Fall 2026 or later), needs one primary care course first, and cannot include specialty hours. It must be finished before Synthesis.
Can I do all my Synthesis hours in one large health system?
Possibly. The 330-hour cap on a single preceptor or site lifts when the site is a major health system, but UCCS does not publish what qualifies. Ask the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator before you plan around it, and keep in mind that the specialty and urgent care limits still apply inside that system.
Do banked hours reduce my Synthesis total?
They can. Up to 55 banked hours may count across the whole FNP or AGNP program, and they are applied only in NURS 6980. They must be extra hours worked at your current site with the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator's approval, so arrange them before that rotation ends rather than asking afterward.
Can I do Synthesis hours in a dermatology office?
Yes, within limits. Dermatology is one of the specialties the handbook names, and up to 110 specialty hours can count, in Synthesis only. Other specialties are reviewed case by case, and AGNP students may also use adult pulmonology. Specialty time cannot be placed in NURS 6982 or in any earlier rotation.
Is NURS 6980 the same as the PMHNP synthesis course?
No. Psychiatric-Mental Health NP students take NURS 6985 Psych Mental Health Synthesis Practicum, which carries 225 or 275 hours and follows the PMHNP handbooks' own rules on settings, telehealth and patient populations. The PMHNP practicum courses page covers that track.
Related pages
Last checked 2026-09-25
We check these pages against UCCS's catalog, practicum handbooks and college pages. Your degree plan, the handbook for your cohort and the Graduate Clinical Practicum Coordinator have the final word.
UCCS asks you to find your clinical hours where you live. Let us run that search.
Tell us your UCCS track, your next clinical course and where you live. We find preceptors who fit the course and prepare the details your Clinical Site Sheet needs, early enough for the agreement to be signed before the semester.
- Preceptors matched to the course: pediatrics for
NURS 6900, acute and chronic care forNURS 6915andNURS 6925, psychiatric prescribers forNURS 6801toNURS 6803 - Credentials, license, certification and the site's signer ready for the Clinical Site Sheet
- In Colorado Springs, along the Front Range, or in any of UCCS's approved states
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