Community Preceptors: The Heart of the Medical Partnership’s Clinical Education
Community faculty members are Northeast Georgia physicians who volunteer their time to help train future physicians at the Augusta University/University of Georgia Medical Partnership. Our students gain core clinical experience in Northeast Georgia hospitals, private practices, or rural settings under the supervision of community faculty members. These faculty members are the backbone of the clinical education component for the Medical Partnership campus.
Community faculty members share their wisdom as teachers and mentors, guiding students through the medical profession and career paths. These experiences provide our students with a deep understanding of the practice of a holistic view of medicine, mixed with real-world perspective students value
Preceptor Benefits
When serving as an AU/UGA Medical Partnership preceptor, you have the following benefits:
- Access to the AU Greenblatt library
- Access to all Medical Partnership Faculty Development offerings
- Support from Clerkship Coordinators
- An expense-paid faculty development conference on Jekyll Island.
- The Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (PTIP) provides a tax credit of up to $10,000 per year for eligible preceptors. For more information, go to https://www.augusta.edu/ahec/ptip/
Preceptor Requirements
Being a community faculty member involves more than holding a teaching position; it also offers the opportunity to educate, mentor, role model, coach, and guide students in their medical education. As students progress through formal medical education, community faculty provide valuable feedback to help them advance their medical knowledge, skills, and abilities.
Becoming an AU/UGA Medical Partnership preceptor involves the following requirements:
- Licensed in Georgia
- A physician of the appropriate discipline
- An MCG clinical faculty appointment
- Adhere to preceptorship guidelines, including required learning activities for students, evaluation components, and administrative procedures such as site visits
Preceptor Expectations
When a community physician volunteers to serve as a preceptor, they become community faculty. When serving as an AU/UGA Medical Partnership preceptor, you should:
- Directly oversee and facilitate all medical student clinical activities related to the clerkship
- Commit to the clinical education of medical students
- Provide medical students opportunities to play an active role in patient care
- Expose medical students to adequate patient volume and variety to fulfill the clinical educational requirements of the clerkship
- Provide feedback to medical students
Are you interested in serving as a community preceptor? If so, please contact the Clinical Site & Faculty Relations Coordinator, Sarah K. Whitaker, Ph.D., at [email protected].
