Strengthening Public Health Preceptorship Through Project ECHO

Abstract

Project ECHO® (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) is a telementoring workforce development model. This manuscript describes the development, delivery, and evaluation of a Public Health Preceptor ECHO program as a strategy to boost knowledge and confidence of public health preceptors, who guide public health students through an applied practice experience (internship). The Public Health Preceptor ECHO is a collaborative effort between two Oregon schools of public health. The six-session ECHO was developed between summer and fall 2022 and first delivered in winter 2023. Participants completed fixed and open response surveys after each ECHO session and at the program’s end. Quantitative responses were analyzed using Stata and illustrative qualitative responses were selected to highlight program impacts. Forty-three individuals registered to participate in the ECHO and 27 participants attended each session on average. Participants reported increased knowledge and skills, especially in communication with interns. The ECHO also provided resources for further training and mentorship, and examples of administrative policies and protocols for managing an intern project. In addition to boosting preceptors’ confidence to support public health students, two impacts included a grant submission to establish a hub for student internship stipends and extending university-sponsored housing to public health students in rural communities. Project ECHO is a promising methodology for training future public health preceptors.