Collaboration regarding curricular decisions and clinical placements

In this section of the symposium, we will discuss the pros and cons of a blended model of online and intensives versus totally online curricular models in rural states. During the collaboration, the two universities developed a blended online and intensive model, using Panopto taping of lectures for students prior to class, in-class seminars using complex case studies in a distance intensive model, using cases from multiple cultures, locations, ages, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations.  We will discuss the advantages and disadvantages of this model for all Nurse Practitioner programs. We will also discuss how we developed creative clinical placements throughout the region, online supervision strategies and standardized patient scenarios and case study seminars to facilitate clinical reasoning.  We will discuss how we used resources from tertiary care settings, private practice settings, public mental health settings, and multi-disciplinary support to support our teaching and development of preceptors. Our accomplishments and challenges may be of help to states with significant Nurse Practitioner faculty and provider shortages and how we are succeeding to increase access to care in the West.