Preceptor Pearls: Learning to Serve as a Student Preceptor

Thinking back to the time when I was a student pharmacist on my first IPPE rotation, I recall feelings of nervousness, anxiety and self-doubt. I was unsure if I would remember all the information I recently learned, the information that I was expected to retain and use in clinical practice. What if I was unable to answer my preceptor’s questions? What if I stutter and forget an important counseling point when talking with a patient? Attempting to gather my thoughts and regain my confidence, I hesitantly began my journey. After endless days of studying and helping patients on rotations as a student pharmacist, I finally obtained my doctor of pharmacy degree and now work as a licensed pharmacist in a community setting.

I have not only gained the knowledge and expertise to appropriately monitor, treat and care for patients, but now have the opportunity to demonstrate how crucial and integral the role of a pharmacist can be to the health care system. To utilize the most of my doctor of pharmacy degree, I eagerly take the lead in my clinical practice to promote medication therapy management, point of care testing and immunization services. I constantly strive to find new ways of improving the well-being of each patient that I am gifted to serve. Discovering the confidence and passion to achieve these tasks, however, was not a self-guided journey; it was aided by past professors, student preceptors and mentors.

After gaining clinical experience as a pharmacist, I decided it was time to become a student preceptor. I aspired to help students realize their potential and take the initiative to develop their skills, just as past mentors have done for me. It has been a privilege to align myself with the core values and beliefs of the Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW) Pharmacy School. Since I make it a priority to engage in direct patient care activities during my clinical practice, I desired to be involved with a curriculum that supports and promotes students to also practice in this manner. The MCW Pharmacy School has made it clear that they are preparing students to practice at the top of their licenses upon graduation; I am honored to be involved with this process.

While embarking on this new role as a student preceptor, I had to first build upon my skills as a servant leader. Servant leadership is about devoting one’s time and resources to serve others in order to help them grow and develop. As I have matured and gained wisdom throughout my career, it became apparent that I had to first learn to serve others before gaining the skills of a leader. To aid in this development, I recalled the points in time that I, too, was just starting my pharmacy career and about to indulge in a wide array of experiences. Students are in a state of continuous educational growth and currently developing the ability to use their knowledge in a clinical setting. Therefore, we must be able to relate to each student’s background and adjust accordingly. We can accomplish this by actively listening to each student, providing empathy when needed and encouraging the heart. If we can establish trust, students will be more likely to come to us when in need of help. This will allow us to better serve them according to their specific needs and learning style.

Prior to the arrival of my first IPPE student, I grew excited at the opportunity to make a positive impact on the young career of a student pharmacist. To prepare myself for this challenge, I initiated contact with the experiential education team to discover the resources that were available at my disposal. Since the student would be arriving for rotation every Friday for ten consecutive weeks, I deemed it necessary to familiarize myself with the curriculum and the student manual of required activities. The goal I had in mind was to create weekly activities that corresponded to what the student was currently studying. By taking this approach, the student could then use the skills he just learned during the week and apply them to a clinical setting that very same week. This method not only helped my student build upon the skills he most recently learned in a didactic setting, but also instilled confidence in his abilities to provide direct patient care.

To communicate with my student, I emailed a calendar of events several days prior to each day of rotation that noted what activities were to be completed when he arrived. Taking his curriculum, interests, and skill set into consideration, I strategically planned each week of activities to build upon the previous weeks. For example, since my student was intrigued and wished to learn more about hypertension, I based some activities on this field of study. Over the course of the rotation, he proceeded to research guidelines, answer drug information questions, draw diagrams on mechanisms of action, complete SOAP notes and prepare patient education sheets. When I deemed him ready to directly relay what he learned to patients, he then counseled on various anti-hypertensive medications under my supervision. Using everything he learned and completed in the previous activities, he was then fully prepared to create a case presentation. By tailoring my student’s experience to meet his personal and professional goals, he exceeded the high standards and expectations I had for him and remained enthusiastic and appreciative throughout the rotation.

Becoming a student preceptor brings many responsibilities. One major responsibility includes treating this role as a discipline in which to develop expertise. Self-reflection is necessary to aid in this process. It is also crucial that we stay up to date with new literature on teaching and learning techniques and are able to apply them to each student that we are gifted to serve. Finally, we cannot expect every student to respond to the same teaching technique. Each student will have different strengths and weaknesses and it is our duty as student preceptors to discover these attributes to help each student excel and find success.

Throughout this rewarding experience, I have learned that I find great pleasure in helping students grow and develop their educational careers. As student preceptors, we have a unique opportunity to make a positive impact on students. Each time a student arrives to our practice site, they look to us as role models. Thus, if we can promote professionalism, display excitement for making a difference in our patient’s lives and go that extra mile to improve the well-being of our patients, it will inspire our students to embrace these qualities and also use them in the future when providing patient care services. I encourage each student preceptor to remember how it felt to be a student on rotation and use that background to better each student’s experience and make it one that they will not forget.

1 MacKinnon GE. LEARN. INNOVATE. ENGAGE. ADVOCATE. MCW: About the Pharmacy School. http://www.mcw.edu/Pharmacy-School/About-the-Pharmacy-School.htm. Accessed January 28, 2018.

2 Tureman DR. The Effectiveness of Servant Leadership in Bringing about Change. Digital Commons-Liberty University. http://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/honors/366/. Published April 15, 2013. Accessed January 28, 2018.

Thomas RA. Developing Structured-Learning Exercises for a Community Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2006;70(1):23. Accessed January 28, 2018.

Hammer D. Improving Student Professionalism During Experiential Learning. American Journal of Pharmaceutical Education. 2006;70(3):59. Accessed January 28, 2018.