PRESBYTERIAN COLLEGE SCHOOL OF PHARMACY
PRECEPTOR
pharmacy.presby.edu | 864.938.3900
September – December 2017
Learning Stages of Students Preceptors interact with students at various points of competency, especially as they are learning new skills and putting them into practice at the rotation site. The Conscious Competence Ladder was first developed in the 1970s and incorporates the two factors involved when a student learns a new skill: competence (ability to complete the skill) and consciousness (student’s self-awareness). Whether it be an ambitious P1 student or a P4 student that struggles with constructive feedback, preceptors must evaluate the student’s competence as well as their self-awareness of this competence in order to provide a better learning experience.
By helping the student evaluate where his/her learning stage is at the time of the rotation, feedback can be better tailored to the student. • Unconscious incompetent: Explain the importance of learning new skills, model lifelong learning, show the student how much he/she will learn during pharmacy school and rotations. • Conscious incompetent: Give encouragement and support to improve self-confidence when the student feels discouraged and frustrated while trying to perfect new skills. • Conscious competent: Allow opportunities for the student to improve on skills and build on previous learning experiences. Give activities that require new skills or higher levels of competency and allow the student to teach less experienced learners. • Unconscious competent: Avoid complacency and find ways to keep up to date. Practice patience with those learners who are at a lower stage. "Learning a New Skill is Easier Said than Done". Gordon Training International.
Save the date! Spring Preceptor Workshop March 22, 2018 Newberry Firehouse Conference Center Newberry, South Carolina