title: Introduction of a continuing professional development tool for preceptors: lessons learned.
abstract: Accreditation Council for Pharmacy Education (ACPE) guidelines state that preceptors should "have a systematic, self-directed approach to their own continuing professional development (CPD)." The objective of this study was to encourage preceptors to take advantage of the ACPE CPD resources and implement the concept of CPD (reflect, plan, act, evaluate, record) as a framework for guiding individual preceptor's continuing development as educators and to determine their opinion regarding the usefulness, effectiveness, and obstacles to implementation of this approach. A total of 3713 preceptors from the participating schools were encouraged to undergo CPD training and invited to respond to a series of questions. Of the initial respondents, 48% represented health system/hospital preceptors, followed by community/independent pharmacists (64 of 236, 28%). Preceptor respondents often train students from multiple schools/colleges (average = 1.9 schools/colleges per preceptor) and 90% agreed or strongly agreed with the statement, "the CPD model, as learned in the webcasts, is beneficial for ongoing preceptor development." The general consensus was that the preceptor portfolio provided motivation to reflect, plan, and set more defined and realistic goals for students, residents, and themselves as educators and could be a valuable starting point for promoting preceptors' reflection, planning, and action related to rotation management, professional teaching, and student learning goals.
authors.affiliation: Experiential Learning Program and Department of Pharmacy Practice and Science, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA ttofade@rx.umaryland.edu.
authors.forename: Toyin
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tofade
authors.affiliation: Student Pharmacist, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Jane
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.affiliation: Office of Academic Affairs, University of Maryland School of Pharmacy, Baltimore, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Lisa
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lebovitz
authors.affiliation: Office of Experiential Education, University of North Carolina School of Pharmacy, Chapel Hill, NC, USA.
authors.forename: Kim
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Leadon
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Pharmacy, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Lena
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Maynor
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Administrative Sciences, Notre Dame of Maryland University, Baltimore, Maryland, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Culhane
authors.affiliation: Department of Pharmacy Practice, University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Princess Anne, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Mark
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Freeberry
authors.affiliation: American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Educational Services Division, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: JoAnn Stacy
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Harris
authors.affiliation: West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV, USA.
authors.forename: Marie
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Abate
mesh_terms: D004512:Education, Pharmacy; D006801:Humans; D011231:Preceptorship; D016730:Program Development / Q000379:methods*
keywords: continuing professional development; experiential learning; portfolio; preceptors