How To Become A Clinical Instructor: What It Is and Career Path

What is a clinical instructor and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

A clinical instructor is responsible for providing effective instruction and evaluation of health science students during clinical training. You are expected to supervise the activities of all students and lecture them on how to properly manage and treat patients. As a clinical instructor, you are responsible for recruiting and assisting students while they complete their training. You will be required to monitor the progress of the students to ensure the stated objectives are effectively met. Your job expects you to regularly assign appropriate projects that align with the objectives of the clinical training. You will also need to serve as a good role model and be ready to listen to the students at all times.

To be a clinical instructor requires you to have a bachelor's degree in a relevant field such as nursing or pharmacy. You need to have good leadership, communication, and organizational traits as well as fluency in written and spoken English. With these qualifications, you will earn a salary of $68,245 yearly or $32.81 hourly.

ScoreClinical InstructorUS Average

Salary

6.6

Avg. Salary $84,613

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

8.6

Growth rate 12%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

5.2

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.28%

Asian 11.28%

Black or African American 7.13%

Hispanic or Latino 10.16%

Unknown 4.93%

White 66.21%

Gender

female 74.06%

male 25.94%

Age - 46

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 46

Stress level

8.6

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a clinical instructor

Explore clinical instructor education requirements

Most common clinical instructor degrees

Bachelor's

47.8 %

Master's

19.8 %

Associate

18.3 %

Start to develop specific clinical instructor skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	22.33%
Direct Patient Care	5.81%
Clinical Practice	4.50%
Pediatrics	3.38%
Medical Surgical	2.92%

Complete relevant clinical instructor training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-2 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New clinical instructors learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a clinical instructor based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real clinical instructor resumes.

Research clinical instructor duties and responsibilities

Manage, direct, and teach ADN nursing students in the clinical setting in Tulsa hospitals.
Experience with ER & ICU patients, set up and perform portable exams.
Provide clinical instructions/teaching for the BSN program
Educate accelerate BSN students on an inpatient pediatric floor with hands-on instruction

Prepare your clinical instructor resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your clinical instructor resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a clinical instructor resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable clinical instructor resume templates

Build a professional clinical instructor resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your clinical instructor resume.