Questions asked by family physicians who want to serve as medical student preceptors

This article addresses the needs of family physician preceptors who teach medical students in their community-based practices. Responses are provided to 20 typical questions that a family physician might ask when considering whether to become a preceptor. Areas covered by the questions and responses include physician motivation for becoming a preceptor, characteristics of good preceptors, specific issues related to working with students in the office, what to teach students, how to give students feedback, evaluation of students, and relationships with the medical school.