Become a Preceptor

According to the Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education’s (ACPE) Accreditation Standards and Guidelines for the Professional Program in Pharmacy Leading to the Doctor of Pharmacy Degree, preceptors for the College of Pharmacy should serve as positive role models for students who demonstrate the following behaviors, qualities, and values (as applicable to their areas of practice):

1. Practice ethically and with compassion for patients

2. Accept personal responsibility for patient outcomes

3. Have professional training, experience, and competence commensurate with their positions

4. Utilize clinical and scientific publications in clinical care decision-making and evidence-based practice

5. Have a desire to educate others (patients, caregivers, other health care professionals, students, pharmacy residents)

6. Have an aptitude to facilitate learning

7. Be able to document and assess student performance

8. Have a systematic, self-directed approach to their own continuing professional development

9. Collaborate with other health care professionals as a member of a team

10. Be committed to their organization, professional societies, and the community

The criteria for preceptors involved with direct patient care as adapted from AACP’s Benchmarks of Excellence for Exemplary Pharmacy Practice Sites are as follows. The preceptor must:

1. 1. Be a role-model practitioner

2. 2. Be an effective, organized, and enthusiastic teacher

3. 3. Encourage self-directed learning of the student with constructive feedback by:

4. 4. Have well developed interpersonal/communication skills

5. 5. Possess leadership/management skills

6. 6. Embody his/her practice philosophy

The criteria for sites as adapted from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s (AACP) Benchmarks of Excellence for Exemplary Pharmacy Practice Sites. According to the AACP, the site/practice must:

1. Have the ability to provide experiences that meet educational outcomes for the College of Pharmacy’s experiential programs

2. Have a professional image

3. Meet or exceed all state and federal laws related to the practice of pharmacy

4. Receive support from the site ownership or administration for providing student pharmacist learning experiences

5. Have site ownership or administration that encourages quality improvement programs

Where direct patient care is provided, the site/practice is recommended to:

1. Be patient-centered and have pharmacists’ provision of patient care services as the focus of the practice

2. Be adequately staffed to provide quality care to patients

3. Have an adequate number and sufficient variety of patients

4. Provide opportunities for students to learn

5. Understand specific disease-therapy management

6. Provide patient communication skills

7. Show ethical behavior related to the provision of patient care

8. Demonstrate a caring attitude towards patients

9. Have the pharmacist as a part of a multidisciplinary team of healthcare providers

10. Utilize technology (informatics) sufficiently to support the patient care mission of pharmacy

11. Have library and learning resources sufficient to support optimal patient care

12. Ensure patient privacy and confidentiality issues are protected via the structural design of pharmacy and comply with all HIPAA requirements

Each preceptor receives a non-compensatory Clinical Faculty Adjunct appointment at the College of Pharmacy.

Additionally, in recognition of the dedication and contributions to the experiential education program, preceptors can enjoy the following training and resources:

• Onboarding training and ongoing development (learn more in the following section)

• Complimentary subscription to the Pharmacist’s Letter Preceptor Training and Resource network

• Complimentary access to select live continuing education activities through the Office of Continuing Education.

• Access to electronic resources of the MBKU Library

Additional preceptor benefits are continuing to be implemented. Please contact the Office of Experiential Education for more information.

Preceptors are invited to attend special on-campus events and/or serve on MBKU Pharmacy committees and task forces, where appropriate.

Preceptors can receive no cost eye care and exams, plus discounts on frames and lenses at the University Eye Center at Ketchum Health. 

The commitment by quality preceptors is the basis of strong pharmacy practice experiences (PPEs). Once affiliation has been completed, the following steps are used for initial and ongoing training/development:

1. Sharing of mutual contact information and organizational charts relating to PPEs. Site visits are made as needed throughout the year and will be documented in the E*Value system.

2. Initial preceptor orientation training: orientation to the COP, COP and PPE program policies/procedures/guidelines, expectations for the site, students, and COP, curriculum outline, academic calendar, student assignment process, assessment processes (evaluations and quality improvement), student requirements, scheduling, etc. The OEE will conduct yearly training in the Spring Quarter.

3. Preceptor development training: A series of workshops focusing on preceptor skills development and E*Value™ use provided by the COP. Some future training topics after the first initial training session may include:

   • How to deal with students in difficult situations (debriefing strategies)

   • Professionalism of students

   • Different learning styles of students

   • How to give students feedback effectively

   • How to integrate your students into your practice

   • How students can be value-added to both the facility and preceptor

   • Learning different communication styles

4. Annual preceptor meeting/teleconference: Annual meeting/teleconference is held to share curricular and program updates, opportunities for preceptors to share ideas and successes, etc. An interactive interprofessional exercise such as an interprofessional case conference will also be included.

5. Providing access to quality online preceptor learning modules and educational resources to support PPE activities.

6. Publishing a quarterly electronic Preceptor Newsletter.

MBKU College of Pharmacy would like to recognize active volunteer preceptors for their dedication and mentorship of students. The Preceptor of the Year (POY) will be bestowed upon a preceptor who demonstrates exceptional ability to facilitate student learning, communicate effectively, and serve as a professional role model and mentor.

To be eligible for the Preceptor of the Year award, the preceptor needs to meet the following criteria:

1. The preceptor must be a volunteer preceptor and not full-time faculty at MBKU.

2. They must serve as a preceptor for at least one student annually.

3. Preceptor cannot have received the IPPE/APPE Preceptor of the Year Award from MBKU in the previous year.

4. Student submission of nomination with a paragraph (4 minimum sentences) explaining why the preceptor should receive the award.

In recognition of the outstanding service, one preceptor will be honored from IPPE Community Rotations and one preceptor from the IPPE Institutional Rotations annually. The student preceptor nomination with the highest number of votes from the Experiential Education Committee Members in each category of IPPE Community and IPPE Institutional will be selected.

Each IPPE POY recipient will receive a plaque and a nameplate on a perpetual plaque. The IPPE award will be presented during the Honors and Awards Ceremony at the end of the academic year. In addition, each POY will be awarded $500 in professional development funds for the next academic year towards a pharmacy professional conference.

In recognition of the outstanding service, one preceptor will be honored from APPE Outpatient Rotations and one preceptor from the APPE Inpatient Rotations annually. The student preceptor nomination with the highest number of votes from the Experiential Education Committee Members in each category of APPE Outpatient and APPE Inpatient will be selected.

Each APPE POY recipient will receive a plaque and a nameplate on a perpetual plaque. The APPE award will be presented during the graduation ceremony of the academic year. In addition, each POY will be awarded $500 in professional development funds for the next academic year towards a pharmacy professional conference. The award categories are defined as follows:

Outpatient

Preceptors who qualify for the APPE Outpatient category are from the following rotations:

1. PHM 801: Community Pharmacy Practice

2. PHM 804: Ambulatory Care Pharmacy

Inpatient

Preceptors who qualify for the APPE Inpatient category are from the following rotations:

1. PHM 802: Health Systems Pharmacy

2. PHM 803: Inpatient/Acute Care General Medicine

Faculty

MBKU Faculty Preceptor of the Year will have additional criteria.