Design and Evaluation of an Interprofessional Preceptor Development Mini-Fellowship Program

Area of Science:

• Health Professions Education
• Interprofessional Learning
• Quality Improvement in Healthcare

Background:

• Health professions preceptors need enhanced skills for educating interprofessional students in clinical settings.
• A mini-fellowship program was developed to address these educational and quality improvement (QI) needs.
• The program targeted diverse preceptors across various disciplines and patient care environments.

Purpose of the Study:

• To implement and evaluate a mini-fellowship program for health professions preceptors.
• To enhance preceptors' knowledge, skills, and self-efficacy in clinical teaching and QI methods.
• To provide a model for academic centers training future healthcare workers.

Main Methods:

• A 3-day interprofessional mini-fellowship program incorporating adult learning principles.
• Workshops covered curriculum design, clinical teaching, QI, social determinants of health, cultural humility, and teamwork.
• Quantitative and qualitative evaluations included pre/post knowledge and self-efficacy surveys.

Main Results:

• 41 preceptors across five cohorts completed the program.
• QI knowledge scores increased by 6.3% (79.2% to 85.5%, P < .003).
• QI self-efficacy (2.64 to 3.82) and teaching self-efficacy (2.79 to 3.80) significantly improved (P < .001). 94% would recommend the program.

Conclusions:

• The interprofessional preceptor development program was effective and achievable.
• It successfully trained clinicians in teaching and conducting QI projects with students.
• The program serves as a valuable model for academic institutions and preceptor training.