Preceptorship

Preceptorship is a structured clinical teaching arrangement in which experienced practitioners, known as preceptors, supervise and mentor students or novice professionals in real-world practice. The model centers on integrating theoretical knowledge with practical skills to develop professional competencies and safe, patient-centered care. It is distinct from mentorship in that it emphasizes supervised clinical performance and formal assessment within the workplace, often aligned with an educational curriculum.

Preceptorship is common across health and allied health fields, including nursing, medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, midwifery, and social work. It is typically delivered in hospitals, clinics, community settings, or practice sites and can span from a few weeks to several months, sometimes forming part of a degree program, residency, or certification process.

Roles and responsibilities: preceptors model professional practice, provide direct supervision, facilitate feedback, assess progress, and ensure patient safety; learners perform tasks under supervision, reflect on practice, and work toward defined competencies. Institutions support with learning objectives, scheduling, and assessment tools.

Core components include explicit learning objectives, planned clinical activities, direct observation and feedback, competency-based assessments, and documentation. Tools may include checklists, direct observation forms, and entrustable professional activities or similar frameworks to document progression.

Benefits include accelerated skill development, better integration of theory and practice, improved patient safety, and professional socialization. Challenges can involve resource intensity, variation in preceptor availability and expertise, administrative burden, and ensuring consistent, fair assessment across settings.

Effective implementation requires formal recruitment and training of preceptors, clear program guidelines, alignment with curricular goals, ongoing quality assurance, and evaluation of outcomes to inform improvements.