Faculty Development for Community Preceptors: a Narrative Review of the Literature

Abstract

C ommunity teaching physicians have assumed an important role in medical education. More than half of medical schools use regional campuses and community settings to train their medical students. 1 The need for training future physicians to better meet societal needs and expectations has prompted medical schools to shift student learning to community settings. 2, 3 At these sites that are often rural or urban, medical students learn from community practicing physicians (i.e., community preceptors) and better understand how social determinants of health can impact patients and communities. 4,5 These experiences can be powerful and may have a lasting effect on medical students' professional identity formation and career choices. 6 The value of community preceptors in medical education has been increasingly recognized by many organizations. 7,8 Community-based medical schools, in particular, depend on these physicians to fulfill their educational mission and provide clinical training to their students. 9 The Alliance of Academic Internal Medicine has called attention to the important roles of community preceptors and need for faculty development (FD) programs that align with their needs and are mindful of their time constraints and geographic location. 10 Furthermore, medical school accreditation standards require comparability of student learning experiences across training sites demanding teaching physicians who are well prepared for their educator roles. 11 However, whether community preceptors are well prepared for their teaching responsibilities is unknown. In addition, best practice for FD of this population of preceptors has not been defined. 12 Many organizations have expressed concerns about the shortage of community preceptors and their level of preparedness to provide high-quality educational experiences. 7,8,13,14 According to a national survey of Family Medicine clerkship directors, FD programs for community preceptors are unstructured or absent, and best practices are lacking. 13

Motivators and barriers for rural community preceptors in teaching: A qualitative study

“…Current faculty development programmes for community preceptors are delivered through workshops and online, while direct observations of community preceptors' teaching skills with feedback from faculty educators, mentoring and learning from other clinician educators are limited or lacking. 38 Attending faculty development sessions in-person or online synchronously or asynchronously can be challenging for community preceptors, however, due to rural location and distance from the medical school where faculty development sessions are generally delivered. Additionally, clinical demands, expectations for productivity, lost income and time constraints create barriers limiting faculty development opportunities for community preceptors.…”

The Use of SOLO Taxonomy in Medical Education Training for Medical Teachers

“…1 Additionally, training in medical education can help medical teachers to understand the unique challenges faced by students in medical schools, such as high academic demands, stress, and work-life balance, and help them to provide support and guidance to their students. 2 Overall, training in medical education is essential to ensure that medical teachers are well-equipped to provide high-quality education to medical students and to enhance the overall quality of medical education.…”