Many of our pharmacists within LMPS are directly involved in teaching, mentoring, and precepting our residents. We are a committed and experienced group including a number of Canada's most respected clinicians and leaders in our profession. The ongoing commitment and support of our many dedicated preceptors is much appreciated and is vital to the success of the LMPS residency program!
STANDARD
The resident shall be precepted by qualified pharmacists or, in the case of learning experiences in pharmacy operations, qualified pharmacy technicians who have the experience, desire and aptitude to teach.
REQUIREMENT(S)
A preceptor shall have the knowledge, skills and practice experience to act as a role model and to assist in the development of the resident’s skills.
A primary preceptor shall be designated for each rotation.
Time shall be allocated for instruction, observation and assessment of the resident in each rotation.
The preceptor shall review and confirm learning goals and objectives with the resident at the beginning of the rotation.
The preceptor shall provide timely and regular feedback to, and assessment of, the resident.
The preceptor shall be committed to self-assessment and making active use of constructive feedback provided by the Resident, Coordinator, Program Director, and (where applicable) other preceptors.
GOAL
Our resident preceptors are prepared, supported, and recognized for their contributions to our residents’ development.
PRECEPTING SKILLS
Effective preceptors aren’t born, but they can be made. Although the skills required for effective precepting take years to hone, several launching points are provided here. Taking the time to invest in your own learning and reflection about being an effective preceptor can pay big dividends in terms of resident learning, your satisfaction with precepting, and integrating precepting with your daily workflow.
Preceptor Roles
Consider the four preceptor roles (direct instruction, modelling, coaching and facilitating) and when to use them. The roles are sequential in nature, but consider each resident individually, their learning style/needs, their experience/skills to date and which role might be most beneficial for your resident. Review ASHP’s “Starring Roles: The four preceptor roles and when to use them” or see a quick Summary of these roles and how to use them
Asking the Right Questions
The questions preceptors ask are a key to leading residents to deeper understanding. Bloom’s Taxonomy can be used to help you ask the RIGHT questions to get beyond “testing” for Knowledge and Comprehension to where we want our residents to be: Application, Analysis, Synthesis, and Evaluation. See Asking the Right Questions and Powerful Questions.
Also consider the Socratic Questioning vs Pimping teaching strategies.
Giving Feedback
Establish this from day 1 of your rotation. Ask your resident for permission to provide feedback and that you, too would like feedback in return. Then set aside time EACH day to do so. See “Beyond Praise in Public - Systematic Approaches to Feedback” presented at the 2014 ASHP NPPC and Giving Feedback to Residents.
Creating a Growth Mindset
A growth mindset is a belief that you can develop your skills and talents through hard work, the right strategies, and guidance from others. To foster a growth mindset in pharmacy residents, preceptors can actively encourage resilience by providing constructive feedback that emphasizes effort and improvement rather than solely focusing on outcomes. They can also create an environment that promotes curiosity and exploration, where learners are encouraged to take risks, learn from failures, and embrace challenges as opportunities for growth. Additionally, preceptors can model a growth mindset themselves by sharing personal experiences of overcoming obstacles and continuously seeking to expand their own knowledge and skills. To read more about how to foster a growth mindset in medical-based education, see Growth mindset in competency-based medical education
Supporting Critical Thinking
To help pharmacy residents think critically, preceptors should create a supportive atmosphere where curiosity is encouraged and questions are welcomed. By showing residents how to tackle problems and analyze situations, preceptors give them something to mimic and learn from. Exposure to different viewpoints and active participation in discussions, all play a part in sharpening these skills. With continued guidance and encouragement, residents gradually become adept at thinking for themselves, honing their skills until they're able to tackle challenges independently.
The following article reviews the importance of and barriers to critical thinking in pharmacy learners. For an approach to generating thoughtful questions, see Appendix 2 for specific guidance. Developing Critical Thinking Skills in Pharmacy Students
RESOURCES TO DEVELOP YOUR PRECEPTING SKILLS
UBC OEE Practice Educator Resource Centre - Preceptor Resources - Visit this site for the OEE Practice Educator Resources Centre. You must create a free online account to access the many online modules and resources.
Preceptor Education Program (PEP) for Health Professionals and Students - An excellent Ontario-based preceptorship course.
Preceptor Resource Guide: Supporting Clinical Learning - An excellent handbook for clinical preceptors developed by VCH Learning & Career Development. Required reading for all new resident preceptors.
The 1-Minute Preceptor - A classic framework for precepting embraced by clinicians around the world.
A Lesson in Clinical Reasoning for the Preceptor - an excellent article that breaks down the intuitive steps of clinical reasoning and how to coach/mentor these steps.
Constructive Ways to Prevent, Identify and Remediate Deficiencies in Experiential Education - an excellent article that gives specific strategies for remediation of various skill-related, attitudinal and systems-related challenges in experiential education programs. Even providing examples of how to ease off in your remediation from direct instruction to modelling to coaching
Teaching Perspectives Inventory - This will get you thinking about whether your espoused beliefs about what makes good teaching/precepting jive with your actual practices.
research on preceptor resources in lmps
We conducted a survey of LMPS preceptors to learn more about their perceived challenges when precepting and their most desired or useful resources.
PRECEPTING RESEARCH IN PRACTICE
Presentation by Deonne Dersch-Mills | Research Coordinator AHS Pharmacy Services | CSHP Foundation Research Committee | Feb 2025
Click here for the recording | Click here for the slides
LEARNER FEEDBACK FRAMEWORK
PRECEPTOR SELF-ASSESSMENT
Just as we ask residents to reflect on their learning and what they might do differently in their next learning opportunity, we also ask preceptors to reflect on their rotations from the past year.
On a regular basis the resident feedback evaluation results will be shared with you in a collated format so that you can continue to learn and grow as a preceptor.
You will be sent a Preceptor Self-Assessment form via one45 once yearly where you can reflect on your approach to precepting considering what went well with your rotations and any changes you’d like to implement. You can also provide any program feedback to the Residency Coordinator here - we welcome your input!
PROFESSIONALISM AND EQUITY
We ask for an ongoing commitment to professionalism for our patients, co-workers, and learners to ensure we are creating an equitable and inclusive workplace. ASHP Statement on Professionalism encourages pharmacy professionals to “promote and model professionalism in everyday practice across diverse settings, roles. and institutions”. Please consider your individual and shared responsibilities that help form our profession and develop future clinicians.
Avoid Toxic Preceptor Behaviors
Avoiding toxic preceptor behaviors is crucial for creating a positive learning environment where pharmacy residents can thrive and develop to their full potential. Toxic behaviors, such as belittling, micromanaging, or displaying favoritism, can erode residents' confidence, hinder their learning progress, and ultimately impact patient care. By promoting respect, open communication, and constructive feedback, preceptors foster a supportive atmosphere that encourages growth, collaboration, and professional development among residents. Even veteran preceptors are sometimes guilty of these “toxic” behaviors known to hinder learning. Reflect on these, and consider whether you are guilty of any.
Toxic Preceptor Behaviors:
Allow/make the resident feel disrespected or demeaned through words you say, tone of voice, ignoring them. This is the most effective way to short-circuit learning, demotivating the resident, and make the precepting experience unrewarding.
Fail to consistently provide positive feedback about activities done well and learning having occurred. Need help? Recognize when learning has occurred and acknowledge it. (eg. "It seems that you now have a good understanding of how ACE-Inhibitors can affect hemodynamics in a way that is useful for understanding how they can affect renal function. Remember a couple of days ago when that was really a struggle for you? You've come a long way.") "Precepting Through the Eyes of a Coach" can help here.
Teach, teach, teach, talk, talk, talk. Fail to give residents time to articular their own understanding and explore connections between ideas, facts, and concepts. Need help? Learn the difference between when you need to ask good questions and lead the resident to deeper understanding (most situations) vs. when you need to teach (ie. transmit information for supposed absorption by resident) (occasionally, infrequently). Precepting is more about guiding than teaching.
Ask useless or uninspired questions that seem to emphasize "trivia" and recall rather than understanding and synthesis. Need help? Check out Asking the Right Questions and Powerful Questions.
RESIDENCY PROGRAM EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES
To help support the ongoing professional development of our preceptors, we have multiple Patient Case presentation handouts, Academic Day Materials, and Preceptor Workshops on our Residency Program Presentation page.
If you have suggestions or requests for additional preceptor resources, please reach out to our Residency Coordinators!