What made you decide to become a preceptor? How long have you been precepting?

"I became a preceptor because I think it is important to give of myself to the future of the pharmacy profession. It is great to have an opportunity to have a positive influence on future pharmacists and help them realize their full potential. This in turn, influences the future of the pharmacy profession. But moreover, the main reason I became a preceptor is that I love to teach! I have been told by a variety of people that I am a good teacher and that this is obviously my vocation in life."

"I feel I have a lot to offer students due to my professional experiences to date. I have served in the role of a staff pharmacist, clinical pharmacist, academic pharmacist, and in pharmacy management positions. I graduated from Campbell University School of Pharmacy in 1998. I went directly into a pharmacy practice residency at the University of California San Francisco. A major portion of this residency included precepting UCSF pharmacy students during their clinical rotations. Upon completion of my residency, every position I have held has involved some component of precepting. I have had experiences precepting pharmacy students, medical students, and medical residents over the last eight years."

What is your teaching/precepting philosophy?

• Teach students to become critical thinkers and independent learners.
• Incorporate active learning as much as possible.
• Provide guidance to the students, but let them form their own opinions.
• Teach students to be able to express their ideas through oral and written communications.

What advice would you give to other preceptors who are just starting out?

• Students will come to you with a good sound basic understanding of pharmacy concepts, but need guidance applying these concepts – this is your main role as a preceptor.
• Expose your students to as many different learning opportunities as possible. 
• Plan out the calendar in advance and sit down with the student on the first day to go through it. Make modifications to the schedule based on individual student’s goals.
• Learn from your students.
• Don’t think that you have to know everything to be a preceptor.
• Ask the students open ended questions.
• Involve the students in every aspect of your job.
• Have the students read, read, and read some more.
• Allow students to disagree with you and argue their opinions.
• Provide as much feedback to the student as possible throughout the rotation, not just at midpoint and the end of the rotation.
• Student self critique is a valuable tool to use.

What do you enjoy most about being a preceptor? 

• Seeing the students grow as professionals and become independent learners.
• At the end of the day it is such a reward to see a student understand a difficult concept.
• Feeling I have had an impact on each student's career.
• Developing a lasting relationship with the students and then seeing them later in their careers to see what they have accomplished.
• When a student contacts me later in their career and shares their appreciation of their clinical experience with me.

What do you enjoy least about being a preceptor? 

• Not having enough time to spend with the students.
• Dealing with discipline problems.

Have you had any particularly memorable experiences while precepting pharmacy students?

"Each student experience is unique and memorable. It is with great joy that I see the evolution of the students from the beginning to the end of the internal medicine rotation. They go from being quiet and reserved to being active and vocal members of the health care team. It is wonderful to see this transition and see them make interventions that are meaningful to improve patient care. The smiles on their faces when the attending physician takes their recommendation is worth a million dollars."