This fall, Rush Medical College will launch a new preceptor program, the Student Continuity Experience. Part of a broader restructuring of Rush’s preclinical curriculum initiative, this mentoring program will give students the opportunity to spend two half-days each month for two years in the office of a physician practicing continuity of care medicine.

The Student Continuity Experience is designed to provide a strong foundation in clinical skills and to enhance student competencies in interviewing, physical exams, medical ethics, professionalism, problem-solving and clinical reasoning. 

Volunteer preceptors, including Rush alumni like Marie Brown, MD 1979, expose students to real-life clinical situations, where they learn about disease prevention, health promotion and patient advocacy. The program is a critical component of students’ medical training, cultivating the connection between doctor and patient as part of the formal medical education process and helping to train physicians who are poised to meet the future challenges in health care delivery.

The Personal Benefits of the Preceptor ProgramFor students, this experience illustrates the relationship between what they’re learning and how that translates into practice, but it also benefits my practice,” Brown said. “Most of my patients enjoy having the opportunity to be part of the learning process. In fact, it elevates my stature in their eyes. I’m not only a doctor, but I’m also a teacher advancing the field of medicine.”

Brown has long been a preceptor of students in her Oak Park, Ill., office, where she has practiced internal medicine for the last 20 years. She says the experience of mentoring a medical student reminds her of her own experience shadowing an internist when she was a medical student.

“I enjoy re-living the experience of a first-year medical student becoming a more comfortable, more confident student doctor who can focus on what the patient is saying. It can take a long time for students to overcome their nervousness, but in six or nine months, you can see how much more confident students have become in listening to and working with patients,” she said.

Professional Advantages to Volunteering Volunteering as a preceptor offers the following professional advantages:

• All preceptors may apply for a faculty appointment at Rush Medical College in the Department of Internal Medicine, the Department of Family Medicine or the Department of Pediatrics.
• Participating preceptors will receive documentation of teaching, eligible for Category 2 Physician’s Recognition Award of the American Medical Association (AMA PRA) or Prescribed Credit from the American Academy of Family Physicians.
• All physician preceptors with faculty status are entitled to borrowing services at the RUMC library, as well as a full spectrum of electronic media including MEDLINE and OVID literature retrieval services.
• Most important, as a preceptor in this program, you have the opportunity to participate in and influence the medical training of a future physician colleague.

Requirements and For More InformationVolunteer preceptors must be willing to mentor students for two half-days per month, for a period of two years; to work directly with students to achieve the program objectives; to assess and evaluate student attendance, motivation, interpersonal skills, effort and commitment; and to provide feedback regarding the program. 

To enroll as a volunteer preceptor, download the registration form.

Read more about other volunteer opportunities or contact Alysha Comstock, director of development and alumni relations, at (312) 942-7227 for more information.