The Joys and Perks of Being a Preceptor
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Ed Kraemer, MD, FAAFP University of MissouriKansas City
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ou love being a Family Physician! Why not share that heartfelt dedication with a future doctor by serving as a medical student preceptor? At the same time, you can showcase your patient centered practice and model what it really means to be a Family Physician! You are needed! A preceptorship in Family Medicine is required of all medical students in order to graduate. With some medical schools expanding in recent years, the number of medical students in Missouri has increased significantly. Other health profession student numbers requiring preceptors are also up while many long-time preceptors are nearing retirement. In other words, there is a perfect storm of increased demand for preceptors at the same time that supply is going down. What’s involved? Typically, your commitment would be to have a student in your practice between two and four weeks at a time, depending on the school’s needs. How often you do this is entirely up to you. You will, of course, want to provide the student with the best Family Medicine experience that you and your practice can offer. Preceptorship usually includes seeing some of your patients together initially as the student learns your practice flow and style and your expectations of them. Students typically progress quickly to seeing patients you select by themselves, performing the initial patient interview and focused physical exam, developing a differential diagnosis and diagnostic/ therapeutic plan…then presenting the patient to you for your guidance and clinical teaching and feedback. You typically conclude by seeing the patient briefly together. How this all looks and works will vary based on your preferences, time constraints, student abilities, etc. Students are also required to learn practical aspects of how a practice functions, including patient flow and scheduling, how patient messages are handled, the roles and training requirements of various office staff and non-physician professionals, Internation Classification of Diseases (ICD) and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) coding for visits, and a feel for overall practice management. They are encouraged to spend time with others in your practice to learn some of these things firsthand. The student may also spend time seeing patients with your physician partners such as Physician Assistants or Nurse Practioners, as you may direct them, including days when you may be out of the office.
MISSOURI FAMILY PHYSICIAN July - September 2020
As it has with everything else, COVID-19 has impacted medical education in major ways. In March, medical schools paused student involvement in patient care, transferring all learning to online formats. Thankfully, students have since returned to on-site patient care, with reasonable precautions of course. COVID-19 procedures vary slightly from school to school so the student’s medical school will discuss this with you. Typically, students will not be involved in the care of COVID-19 patients. They will be prepared to abide by your office policy on masking, PPE use, etc. Students may also be able to participate in telemedicine visits if you have incorporated those into your practice.
WHAT’S IN IT FOR YOU?
• AAFP CME credits: You may receive up to 20 prescribed CME hours each year for teaching, including preceptorship activities, from the American Academy of Family Physicians. https://www.aafp.org /cme/about/types. html#prescribed-examples • ABFM Certification Credit: https://www. teachingphysician.org/become-a-preceptor/ incentives-for-precepting-2019 o CME: Up to 50% (maximum of 75 hours per certification cycle) of the CME required for certification by the American Board of Family Medicine can be earned by teaching medical students. o PI credit: Family physicians can earn ABFM performance improvement credit (MOC IV) by teaching medical students and/or residents and participating in a teaching performance improvement activity. • Many medical schools also offer for their preceptors: o Academic faculty appointments o Access to information and online library resources o Recognition events/programs o Access to continuing education • Students can help with patient encounter workups, medication reconciliation, note writing and other documentation. (Medicare now allows the preceptor to simply verify any student documentation of components of E/M services in the medical record, rather than re-documenting the work.) https://www.teachingphysician.org/ become-a-preceptor/How-Students-Can-AddValue-to-Your-Office
