Preceptors: Student Preparation and Evaluation

Student preparation for daily cases

Student assignments are generally made the day before the scheduled cases. On weekends this may occur two days in advance. This allows students sufficient time to assess patient specific information and write a patient specific anesthesia plan of care for their assigned cases. When the students are on evenings, weekend, and obstetrical rotations they are not required to write a care plan, however they are required to discuss their plan of care with their anesthesia preceptors prior to the beginning of the case.

Evaluation of students

Preceptors should meet with students at the beginning of the day to review the student’s proposed plan of care. The student’s plan of care should be detailed and patient specific. Throughout the day it is ideal if preceptor can provide ongoing feedback to the student as this gives them opportunities to enhance their performance. It is also important that at the end of the day the preceptor provide feedback to students regarding performance for their entire day. A daily written evaluation is ideally accomplished at that time. Areas in which the student has achieved competence should be discussed with them as well as areas that have been identified as weaknesses and needing improvement. Any recommendations the preceptor has regarding strategies for improving student clinical performance will be very helpful to them and can be documented on the student evaluation sheet. Ideally the evaluation should be reviewed with and returned to the student at the end of the day. If it’s not possible to complete the written assessment at that time the verbal assessment will suffice until the written assessment is completed. The written assessment then should be completed at the preceptor’s earliest opportunity and either given to the student directly or inserted in the locked box provided at VMC.

In the event the students behavior is unprofessional or places the patient in any danger the student should be removed from the area. The Director of Clinical Education must be contacted as soon as possible and an anecdotal note to document the event completed. The Director of Clinical Education will meet with the preceptor and the student and take further actions as appropriate.