Serving as an Effective Preceptor

Nadine Nwana, Pharm.D. 

PGY-1 Pharmacy Resident

Pharmacy Department

Holy Cross Hospital

There are many different fields within the profession of pharmacy that students can join after completing pharmacy school. Many students go into pharmacy school thinking they know where they would like to practice after graduation but most end-up changing their minds and picking a different practice setting. Pharmacy schools are responsible for assuring that students are exposed to as many avenues of pharmacy as possible and they are paired with preceptors who are passionate about the field and enjoy teaching pharmacy students. Many pharmacists would like to give back to their profession by serving as preceptors but some struggling with serving as an effective preceptor. Being a good preceptor can be very challenging but yet rewarding. Whether you’re a new preceptor or simply looking to brush up on your skills, follow these tips to be successful.1

The first step in being an effective preceptor is understanding your role.1 These roles are typical set by the school of pharmacy. Each school has a syllabus that outlines learning objectives and terminal performance objectives that they want their students to complete by the end of the rotation. Some schools allow total autonomy to the preceptors and the preceptors decide what they think is important for the student to learn. The next step is to know your student.1 Pharmacy schools typically require students to reach out to their preceptor at least two weeks in advance. The purpose of this initial email is for the student to introduce himself or herself to the preceptor and express their interest.  As a preceptor this is the prefect opportunity to learn more about your student. You can do this by creating a questionnaire, which has questions like, what are you interests in pharmacy, what are your strengths and weaknesses, what would you like to get out of this rotation, and what is your goal after pharmacy school? Use the answer to these questions to help design a rotation that is tailored to the student’s preferences. This will help keep you and the student organized and also helps to assure that all of the students goals are being met.

Within the first few days of the student’s rotation, you want to make sure that you inform the student on his or her goals and responsibilities for the rotation. You want to provide the student with clear expectations of his or her responsibilities. An example would be informing a student on a clinical based rotation how many patients they would be responsible for working up, what working up a patient comprises of, how to properly document and how to appropriately follow up on patients. Depending on the students background, you might need to have the student shadow you as you complete these tasks or walk them through it a couple of times until they are comfortable completing the tasks by themselves.
As a preceptor, you should also provide practical learning experiences.1 During rotations, students are looking for an opportunity to learn and grow as clinicians. Sarcona and colleagues stated that students prefer an experienced and knowledgeable preceptor.2 Having the student complete assignments such as topic discussion, drug information questions, journal clubs and patient case presentations can help integrate the information that the student is learning in school with what is actual being done in practice. This will help the student improve their clinical thinking skills.

Last but definitely not least is making sure you provide consistent and constructive feedback. Feedback should be ongoing feedback throughout the experience.1 The students are on rotation for such a short period so we want to make sure that they are progressing in the right direction. Show the students what they did correctly and the impact their intervention had on patient care.1 When the student makes a mistake, do not only tell them what they did wrong, make sure to explain how the mistake can negatively affect patient care and then show them how to correct their mistake.  You should also have the student evaluate you so you are aware of what changes you need to make to assure that the experience is valuable.

References:
1. Admin. “Become a Successful Preceptor.” American Nurse Today, 2 Oct. 2019, https://www.americannursetoday.com/become-successful-preceptor/.
2. Sarcona, et al. “Characteristics of an Effective Preceptor: Dietetics Education as a Paradigm.” Journal of Allied Health, vol. 44, no. 4, 1 Dec. 2015, pp. 229–235.