- College of Medicine Medical
Know a physician who is a great teacher? An inspirational mentor? The UCF College of Medicine is looking to identify more preceptors for first- and second-year students. With the new class of 100 enrolling in August, the college will have 180 students in the Community of Practice aspect of the Practice of Medicine modules. And each one needs a preceptor.
Students spend eleven, four-hour sessions with preceptors during the first year and eight in the second.
“Preceptors play an incredibly important role in helping students form their identity as physicians-in-training and in adopting the values of the profession,” said Dr. Richard Peppler, associate dean for academic and faculty affairs and interim director of the college’s Burnet School of Biomedical Sciences.
Preceptors should be passionate about teaching, credentialed in their specialty and work in a clinic or hospital setting. The college’s goal is to provide students with opportunities to observe a variety of patients and to follow them through their treatment plans, so the medical school is seeking preceptors in family practice, general internal medicine, pediatrics, infectious disease, emergency medicine, nephrology, cardiology, general surgery and obstetrics/gynecology.
You can see how students view their preceptors in some of their recent evaluations. One student described a preceptor as “a wonderful physician, and a remarkable teacher. He has made me more confident, pushed me to do my very best, and helped me hone my skills as an examiner, reporter, diagnostician and physician. He will remain one of my role models, and my idea of the ‘good doctor’ for the rest of my career.” Another student thanked the preceptor for the opportunity to have hands-on interactions with patients of different backgrounds. “His greatest teaching strength was his ability to convey empathy and teach not only how to diagnose and treat disease, but also how to connect with human beings,” the student wrote.
Physicians interested in participating as preceptors should contact Morayma Cubero at 407-266-1119 or morayma.cubero@ucf.edu. They can send your most recent CV to volunteerfaculty@ucf.edu. The college will determine a student match in late July/early August and new preceptors will be contacted to schedule a 20-30 minute orientation at their clinic/office.