Thank you for your affiliation with the South College, School of Physician Assistant Studies located in Knoxville, Tennessee.

Your participation in the educational process is a vital component to clinical learning experience and essential in determining future outcomes of health care professionals. Our success is measured by your dedication to teaching and mentoring. Preceptors provide practical experience and training in a variety of medical specialties.

An Adjunct Clinical Preceptor is a licensed health professional who provides clinical education to students in their area of expertise. Clinical preceptors assist students in strengthening their foundations in physical exams, problem assessment, diagnosis, procedural skills, treatment, recording and reporting, and consulting. Preceptors are mentors and role models who instruct the student academic and clinical environment.

Preceptors receive guidance from academic and clinical objectives provided by the South College, School of Physician Assistant Studies.

Some of the responsibilities of a preceptor include and are not limited to:

1. Allowing for clinical space and a variety of clinical patient encounters necessary for experience within the rotation.
2. Ensuring the student receives a wide clinical experience by reviewing the necessary clinical objectives for the specific rotation. Preceptors supplement the student with information to build upon and strengthen the student’s current foundation of knowledge.
3. Preceptors must be on site to teach, consult and supervise the student. This commitment may be shared by two or more approved Clinical Preceptors. Students are expected to work an average of 45 hours per week.
4. Preceptors assist in developing the student’s skills through observation, demonstration and advising during the clinical phase of the rotation.
5. As preceptors get to know the student, he or she may increase the level of responsibility to the student in clinical assessment and management.
6. Preceptors provide the student an opportunity to utilize and become proficient in electronic or manual medical record skills.
7. Preceptors re-evaluate each patient a student presents ensuring accuracy in history and physical examine techniques.
8. The preceptors supervision ensures students do not practice outside of their known competencies and within the state’s legislation.
9. Preceptors ensure all patients seen by a student are presented and an accurate diagnosis and medical management plan is transcribed. All documentation by a student must be reviewed for accuracy and counter-signed by the preceptor.
10. Preceptors evaluate the student’s didactic and clinical knowledge through feedback with the student, faculty, by completing the student’s clinical evaluation form and via telephone should he or she have concerns or questions regarding students or the clinical phase of the program. Any concerns or questions regarding mentoring, clinical syllabi, clinical rotations, and student concerns should be directed to the Director of Clinical services via phone or e-mail.

Clinical Rotations will begin in January 2009 and are approximately 6 weeks in duration. Each Preceptor will receive a clinical preceptor manual upon mentoring their first student.

Once again, on behalf of the college and faculty, thank you for your affiliation with the South College, School of Physician Assistant Studies.

If you have any questions or are interested in becoming a Clinical Preceptor for the Masters of Health Science, Physician Assistant program at South College, please contact Dr. Don Yager, Director of Clinical Services at (865) 251-1800, or e-mail at dyager@southcollegetn.edu.

If you or someone you know are a licensed health care provider in Behavioral Health, Woman’s Health, General Surgery, Emergency Medicine, Pediatrics, Internal Medicine, Family/Geriatric Medicine, Cardiology, Pulmonology, Gastroenterology, Urology, Orthopedics, Infectious Disease or other specialty, and are interested in mentoring a physician assistant student, please make inquiries to dyager@southcollegetn.edu.

Please visit this site regularly as additional information will be available.