Preceptor Tools for Success: Student Review on Creating an Effective Clinical Rotation.

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to explore student perspectives regarding effective preceptors with the intention to improve development of supervised clinical practice experiences.

Methods: In total, 136 clinical year physician assistant (PA) students, representing 9 accredited PA programs, participated in a mixed-methods survey, including a 5-point Likert scale to identify characteristics of an effective preceptor. The survey achieved a 36.2% response rate. Quantitative data were analyzed based on mean and standard deviation (SD) with the analysis of variance to promote generalizability. Thematic analysis was performed on qualitative responses.

Results: Students reported the highest level of agreement that an effective preceptor welcomes questions from the student (mean 4.88, SD 0.54), are enthusiastic about having a student (4.84, 0.52), and provide a welcoming support staff who encourages student education (4.71, 0.66). Students also highlighted the positive effect of preceptor engagement during clinical rotations.

Conclusion: A preceptor who actively engages their student has the greatest positive impact on clinical education. Preceptors can implement clinical teaching strategies from this article to improve student-perceived effectiveness of their rotation.