About our fellowship
Our mission is to graduate highly reliable advanced practice providers who deliver safe, high-quality, evidence-based care to every patient, every time.
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is a paid, 12-month postgraduate program for nurse practitioners and physician assistants, offered in four specialty tracks. Fellows learn side by side with expert clinicians while completing a rigorous core and specialty curriculum and an evidence-based practice project. You leave with the clinical judgment, skills and habits that define exceptional care.
Why choose the Ohio State Wexner Medical Center advanced practice fellowship?
- Training in high reliability. Fellows learn and practice the principles of high reliability, including situational awareness, clear communication, standardized processes and speaking up for safety, so these habits are part of how they practice from the start.
- A paid, full-time position. Fellows are Ohio State employees who receive a salary and throughout the training year.
- A structured transition to practice. Clinical responsibilities grow step by step, from orientation and close supervision to managing your own patient caseload.
- Dedicated preceptors and mentors. Experienced APPs guide your clinical growth, give regular feedback and support your career goals.
- Academic medical center experience. You train alongside interprofessional teams caring for patients with complex conditions, with access to the education and research resources of a renowned university.
- A nationally accredited program. Our fellowship is accredited as an ANCC Practice Transition Accreditation Program® (PTAP) by the American Nurses Credentialing Center.
- A path forward. Fellowship graduates are well prepared for advanced practice roles at Ohio State or anywhere in the country.
Fellowship tracks
Our Advanced Practice Provider Fellowship is one program with four specialty tracks. All fellows share a core curriculum, cohort experience and program leadership. Each track then builds on that foundation with its own specialty-specific curriculum and clinical training.
Acute and critical care
Fellows in this track care for critically ill and hospitalized adults as members of intensive care and inpatient teams. Training focuses on the assessment and management of complex, high-acuity patients, rapid clinical decision making and procedural skills, with rotations designed to build a strong foundation in acute and critical care practice.
Surgical OR
Fellows in this track gain experience across the perioperative continuum, including preoperative evaluation, intraoperative assisting and postoperative management. Working closely with surgical teams, fellows develop the technical skills and clinical judgment needed to practice confidently in the operating room.
Oncology
Based in the clinics of the Arthur G. James Cancer Hospital and Richard J. Solove Research Institute, this track prepares fellows to care for people with cancer across multiple clinical settings. Fellows learn to manage patients through diagnosis, treatment and survivorship, including treatment-related complications, symptom management and care coordination, as part of multidisciplinary cancer care teams.
Primary care
Fellows in this track train in Ohio State primary care practices, caring for patients of all ages across the full scope of primary care. Training emphasizes prevention and wellness, acute and chronic disease management, care coordination and office-based procedures, so fellows are ready to manage their own patient panel.
What to expect during your fellowship year
All four tracks follow a shared framework that balances patient care with learning and professional growth.
- Clinical practice. Most of your time is spent providing direct patient care alongside your preceptors, with responsibilities that increase as your skills develop.
- High reliability and patient safety. Fellows are trained in high reliability practices such as safety huddles, structured handoffs, closed-loop communication and error prevention, and apply them in daily patient care.
- Rigorous didactic curriculum. Protected weekly education time combines expert instruction with active learning. Fellows learn from presentations by subject matter experts, work through complex case studies, prepare and deliver clinical topic presentations to faculty and peers and analyze clinical and quality data to evaluate outcomes.
- Simulation and procedural training. Hands-on skills sessions and simulation let you practice procedures and complex scenarios in a safe learning environment.
- Professional development. Fellows build skills in communication, leadership and interprofessional teamwork.
- Evidence-based practice quality improvement project. Each fellow completes a group evidence-based practice (EBP) quality improvement project with guidance from an EBP mentor. Fellows identify an opportunity to improve patient care, apply current evidence, measure results and present findings at the end of the fellowship year.
Mentorship and support
Each fellow is paired with clinical preceptors and a mentor who provide day-to-day teaching, regular performance feedback and career guidance. Fellowship leaders meet with fellows regularly to review progress and goals. Your EBP mentor also guides you through your evidence-based practice quality improvement project, from choosing a topic to presenting your results. Our program also supports your well-being, with attention on resilience and preventing burnout as you begin your career.
Accreditation
ANCC Practice Transition Accreditation Program® (PTAP) has accredited The Ohio State University Health System with a four-year accreditation for the practice transition programs for new advanced practice providers. This accreditation recognizes that our program meets rigorous national standards for supporting new advanced practice providers as you transition into practice.