Information for Current and Future Preceptors 

 
Overview & How to Apply 

Family medicine physicians who practice in the state of Iowa and are ABFM-certified are eligible to become preceptors for medical students at the Carver College of Medicine (CCOM). The most common medical student rotation in which preceptors teach is the Family & Community Medicine clerkship, but additional opportunities exist within advanced electives, virtual small group sessions, or virtual didactic-style educational sessions. Community physicians that teach and evaluate medical students for core clerkships are required to have an academic appointment with CCOM. 
 

Many physicians find that mentoring medical students offers a sense of fulfillment and career satisfaction. Teaching medical students can also provide emotional and psychological rewards, contributing to career longevity and preventing burnout. 
 

If you are not a preceptor, we invite you to help train the next generation of physicians. Precepting students pays your education forward, enriches experiences for your patients and is associated with increased provider fulfillment.  

If you meet the eligibility criteria and are interested in teaching medical students, please reach out! 

Contact: 

Emily Welder, MD, Director of Medical Student Education for the Department of Family and Community Medicine – Emily-welder@uiowa.edu  

Morgan Kremer, Coordinator of Medical Student Education for the Department of Family and Community Medicine – fm-clerkship@uiowa.edu  

Darin Ritchie, Academic Programs Specialist, Office of Statewide Clinical Education Programs (OSCEP) – darin-ritchie@uiowa.edu  

To apply for an Adjunct Faculty appointment at the University of Iowa go to the OSCEP website:  Academic Appointments and Promotions for Community Physicians 

 

Adjunct Appointment Benefits 

For a full listing, see OSCEP’s Adjunct Status Benefits website. 

As a University of Iowa Adjunct Faculty member, some of the benefits include access to CCOM Continuing Medical Education (CME) opportunities at a reduced (or potentially no) cost! See select opportunities below: 

  • Invitations to the University of Iowa Department of Family and Community Medicine Grand Rounds 

 

You also receive access to the numerous resources of Hardin Library, which is the University of Iowa’s health sciences library. The library’s collection includes more than 5,000 health sciences journals, most in electronic format; over 200 health sciences databases, including PubMed, CINAHL, the Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, MDConsult, DynaMed, Stat!Ref, and UpToDate; and a growing collection of electronic books. 

CME Credit for Teaching

Teaching is considered a live activity (similar to conference attendance) by the AAFP. You can claim up to 60 prescribed credits (Category 1) for each 3-year cycle. You can either report all 60 hours in one year or spread them over three years. Each hour spent with the student counts as one hour. https://www.aafp.org/cme/about/types.html#teaching

To report CME:

  • Login
  • Go to Report my CME
  • Click on Teaching (under Individual Activities)
  • Enter Title (something like "UI CCOM Preceptor")
  • Enter number of credits: 1 credit = 1 hour (up to 60 per three-year cycle)
  • Enter Start and End dates (may report as calendar year)

Overview of the Family and Community Medicine Clerkship

For additional details, see the student-facing description at the Family & Community Medicine Clerkship website. 

Clerkship Structure 

The Family and Community Medicine clerkship is a 6-week clerkship that is required for medical students at the Carver College of Medicine (CCOM). This is the most common clerkship in which FM preceptors interact with medical students. Most preceptors teach medical students during a 4-week clinical assignment as part of the clerkship’s community-based family medicine experience. Medical students also spend 2 weeks at a Regional Medical Education Center (RMEC). During the 4-week preceptorship, medical students are also required to attend education sessions on Wednesday afternoons as well as to have a half-day to study. 
 

This rotation is unique in many ways, including that this rotation is the only one that provides an experience outside of the primary CCOM location (Iowa City or Des Moines) for most medical students. This allows exposure to different healthcare systems, geographic settings, patient populations, and practice structures.  
 

It is also unique in that the students get continuity with the healthcare team, being immersed into a clinic for several weeks, which is not always achieved on other rotations.  
 

This allows for much more continuity with you, their preceptor, which almost always results in a great experience for all involved!

Goals 

One goal of the Family and Community Medicine Clerkship is to provide second- and third-year medical students with an integral experience in family medicine, to ensure a well-rounded education for all CCOM graduates. As a core rotation, this is a clerkship required for all medical students. 
 

This clerkship also aims to foster interest in Family Medicine and to enhance understanding of the role of primary care providers. 
 

We also hope to provide exposure to communities in Iowa outside of the Iowa City area, thereby supporting students through essential experiences in diverse settings, as well as providing experiences in different healthcare systems.

Clerkship Objectives

Specifically, objectives of this rotation include:

1. Interpersonal and Communications Skills 

  • Report the patient's story through concise oral and written documentation. 
  • Apply effective patient communication and counseling skills. 

2.  Medical Knowledge

  • Demonstrate differential diagnosis building pertaining to acute and chronic complaints.

3.  Practice-Based Learning and Improvement 

  • Develop evidence-based health promotions/disease prevention plans for patients of any age. ethnicity. and gender. 

4. Patient Care 

  • Demonstrate clinical skills through direct patient care, including history taking and physical examination. 
  • Apply continuity of care, health promotion and preventive health care in developing an appropriate management strategy. 

5. Professionalism

  • Demonstrate professionalism in interactions with patients and members of the healthcare team.

6. Systems-Based Practice 

  • Describe the value of continuity of care in the context of patient outcomes and experiences.
  • Assess the influences of family, culture, community, and society on health and disease. Explain how non-physician medical professionals, community agencies/organizations, and other community support systems help provide additional care for patients with specialized needs. 

Summary 

In summary, this is a very important and unique rotation for medical students, which is made possible by the dedication to teaching that each of our preceptor's exhibits. 

For our current preceptors, these experiences are not possible without you – Thank you for all that you do for medical student education!

References: Clinical Teaching

Note: there is a vast amount of other medical information and patient information available via the Internet. However, this list is focused on clinical teaching related topics: ·

CCOM References and Policies