6 minute read
The Joys and Perks of Being a Preceptor
Ed Kraemer, MD, FAAFP University of MissouriKansas City
You 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 reallymeans to be a FamilyPhysician!
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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 staffand 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.
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 ofcomponents ofE/M services in the medical record, rather than re-documenting the work.) https://www.teachingphysician.org/ become-a-preceptor/How-Students-Can-Add
Value-to-Your-Office
• Students help keep you on your toes, revitalized, and up to date! • Patients enjoy the students. They will also appreciate your commitment to medical student education and will be impressed by your affiliation with a medical school. • MAFP helped introduce a “Preceptor Tax Credit” bill to the Missouri legislature earlier this year. Due to the necessary attention to COVID-19, the legislature never voted on this bill. Be assured that we will be back in
Jefferson City with a similar proposal early in the next session. • You will experience the great joy and satisfaction of training a future doctor, possibly even a future Family
Physician, practice partner and community leader!
WHAT DO STUDENTS HAVE TO SAY?
“Students love FM Preceptorship: Working side-by side with a practicing FP! The pace! The variety! The
Complexity! The patient relationships! The community involvement! Everyone was so nice to me!”
“I wasn’t considering FM before, but now I am!”
WHERE CAN YOU FIND MORE INFORMATION?
From: https://www.teachingphysician.org/become-apreceptor/find-a-clerkship :
Saint Louis University School of Medicine
http://www.slu.edu/medicine/curricular-affairs/year-threeinformation-required-clerkships/family-medicine-clerkship 314-977-9870
A.T. Still University of Health Sciences - Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine (ATSU-KCOM)
https://www.atsu.edu/ 660-626-2237
University of Missouri-Columbia School of Medicine
http://medicine.missouri.edu/family-communitymedicine/medical-students/ 573-882-0974
University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Medicine
http://med.umkc.edu/fm/docents-clerkships/ 816-235-1808
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCU-COM) - KC
http://www.kcumb.edu/ 800-234-4847
Kansas City University of Medicine and Biosciences College of Osteopathic Medicine (KCU-COM) - Joplin
http://www.kcumb.edu/ 800-234-4847
MAFP Racial Disparity Statement
Dear MAFP Members:
The Missouri Academy of Family Physicians has always been inclusive and welcoming to people and perspectives from a variety of backgrounds and across the state in rural, urban, or suburban geographic locations. Regardless of our members’ and patients’ backgrounds, we are all equal and should be respectful of each person, period. The recent tragic events across our country are an opportunity to become more aware of the racial disparities that exist in our society.
Expressions of these disparities have been peaceful, aggressive, and even illegal. As Missouri’s family physicians, we stand with our communities to institute change and dismantle structural racism and discriminatory practices. We all have different emotions related to these issuesand the methodsthatare beingutilized to initiate change. We all struggle to find peace and purpose in the wake ofunspeakable tragedy and pain, but our commitment to all of our patients’ health and well-being continues to be the focal point of our efforts. The MAFP stands with AAFP’s strong statement opposing racism in any form.
Racial injustice causes physical and emotional harm. As family physicians, we offer our medical skills and compassion to those in need. As an organization, we acknowledge we can improve and are working to identify our own implicit bias and to work with other health equity champions to move Missouri toward a just and equal state for all its citizens.
We want to be a part of the solution. Yet, we know we need to do more through education and awareness. We are implementing regional CME opportunities, live streaming, and enduring CME that will focus on racial injustice and implicit bias. As leaders in your practice, these materials will be available for you to share with your team –one step at a time to have systemic change. As our strategic plan guides our efforts, we support the family medicine pipeline to become more diverse to care for all our communities.
