Holly Phillips

Preceptor development: providing effective feedback.

Feedback plays a significant role in precepting and is indispensable in residency training. As described by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education, the goal of any postgraduate residency program is to prepare individual trainees to function as qualified practitioners. Although feedback and evaluations have traditionally been synonymous, our goal is to differentiate the two and describe the role of each within resident performance. The goal of this article is to provide preceptors with the tools to provide timely, effective, and quality feedback to residents on a regular basis. Although the focus of this article is on residency training, these concepts can be utilized in student rotations as well.

Characteristics of postgraduate year 1 pharmacy residency programs at academic medical centers

PURPOSE The training components and other characteristics of postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency programs at a sample of academic medical centers were evaluated. SUMMARY A questionnaire was sent via e-mail to the directors of 98 PGY1 residency programs at academic medical centers in the University HealthSystem Consortium (UHC) to elicit benchmarking data on issues such as recruitment, learning experiences, resident staffing requirements, resident research projects and professional presentations, opportunities for resident participation in teaching activities, and requirements for faculty service as preceptors; 72 program directors responded to the survey. The residency programs represented in the survey reported an average of approximately 14 applicants for each available position in 2010 and an average of about five candidate interviews per available position. The survey results indicated wide variation in the learning experiences offered by PGY1 programs (the most commonly reported rotations were in administration, critical care, internal medicine, ambulatory care, and drug information), with a high degree of individualization of elective rotations. Almost all programs had a mandatory staffing component, typically requiring 4-10 hours of service weekly. CONCLUSION Results of this survey indicate that there is a large amount of variation in the components of PGY1 pharmacy residency programs among UHC academic medical centers. The majority of respondents reported no change in the number of residency positions offered within the past two years, but they reported an increase in the number of applications from 2009 to 2010.

Integrating Precepting Into Your Daily Practice

It’s 11:00 a.m. on a Thursday morning. You have just completed rounds and are scrambling to catch up with orders awaiting verification in your queue. Your pager goes off, and the physician on the other end of the line would like you to discuss a phenytoin level and the plan for continued therapy. While you are on the phone, a nurse asks you if insulin and norepinephrine are compatible. A beep from your smartphone alerts you that you are now 5 minutes late for your annual performance review with your boss. You take action on all the critical issues and proceed to your meeting where you are asked to begin taking pharmacy residents on your service. You think to yourself, “How am I ever going to do my job effectively and manage a resident at the same time?” In 2006, the American College of Clinical Pharmacy (ACCP) published a position statement recommending that all pharmacists with direct patient care practice be required to complete formal postgraduate residency training.1 Echoing this sentiment, the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) has proposed a resolution that by the year 2020 all graduating pharmacists will complete an ASHP-accredited pharmacy residency prior to undertaking direct patient care practice.2 At this time, there is not program capacity to fulfill these requirements. In 2012, there were 4,204 applicants for postgraduate year one (PGY1) and postgraduate year two (PGY2) pharmacy residencies. Of those applicants, 1,610 went unmatched with a residency program.3 Mandated residency training coupled with residency position shortages will require the creation of new residency programs as well as the expansion of existing residency programs. To keep up with this demand, preceptors must be able to effectively and efficiently care for patients and educate the future practitioners of our profession. This difficult task can be achieved through incorporation of a few principles into daily practice.

Preceptor Development: Providing Effective Feedback, Part 2

An integral part of providing effective feedback to pharmacy residents occurs during the evaluation process. Residency evaluation involves measuring and documenting performance as it relates to standardized residency outcomes, goals, and learning objectives. Evaluations may be formative or summative and include the preceptors evaluation of the residents performance, the residents self-assessments, and the residents evaluation of the preceptor and learning experience. Evaluations are more structured than feedback, and they involve documentation of the verbal feedback that was provided throughout the learning experience. This article will focus on the preceptors role in providing effective resident evaluations based on specific learning activities.

The Complexity and Importance of Residency Precepting: A Series Introduction

Preceptor development is an area of significant challenge facing residency leadership and preceptors across the nation. This series will focus on establishing a foundation necessary for successful precepting in todays fast-paced profession. Through discussion and presentation of these materials, preceptors should be able to enhance current precepting skills and identify ways to improve preceptor development programs at their practice sites. The series will review current preceptor development programs and provide options for programs that may be struggling with where to start with preceptor development. Key topics covered will include characteristics of good precepting, generational needs, effective feedback, development of a preceptor program, and finally comparison of resident and student learning needs.

Coping with the residency scramble: The need for national guidelines

For pharmacy students and others seeking postgraduate pharmacy residency training, March has become the most stressful month of the year. While 2011 brought the highest fill rate for residency positions since the ASHP Resident Matching Program was launched in 1979, the demand for postgraduate

Assessment of current practices for developing “preceptors in training”

All accredited postgraduate year 1 (PGY1) pharmacy residency programs are required to follow the ASHP Accreditation Standard for PGY1 Pharmacy Residency Programs.[1][1] The standard includes a newly defined role of “preceptor in training” (PIT). In section 4.9 of the standard, a PIT is defined

Preceptor development: Responses to frequently asked questions from preceptors in academic hospitals.

Preceptor development continues to be a trending topic within our profession. ASHP’s accreditation standards include requirements for preceptor development, and residency program directors continue to seek novel and unique methods for developing preceptors’ aptitude and ability for teaching.[1][

Optimizing the Customized Residency Plan

Residents and residency program directors (RPDs) understand that the goal of the residency year is to earn a residency certificate through achievement of established goals and objectives. The customized residency plan provides a map for the resident and RPD to follow throughout the course of the residency year, helping to keep everyone on track to accomplish the established goals and objectives of the program. It also provides information that allows preceptors to take the individual residents plan into consideration when customizing a learning experience. This article will focus on the process for developing a customized residency plan and implementing it over the course of the residency year.

Commentary: Exploring Novel Approaches to Staff Rewards and Recognition

Nearly 40 years ago in the Harvard Business Review, Frederick Herzberg addressed ideas about how to motivate employees. In this review, Herzberg identified motivating factors imperative in the work environment: achievement, recognition for achievement, actual work, responsibility, and growth or advancement. A survey presented in Herzberg’s publication of over 1600 employees from various backgrounds including hospital personnel and nurses revealed that job satisfaction is more likely to result from these motivating factors as opposed to dissatisfaction-avoidance factors like salary, working conditions, and interpersonal relationships. Specifically, Herzberg’s reported survey identified that achievement and recognition had the largest impact on job satisfaction and may have long-term effects on employees and their attitudes toward work. A more recent survey performed in 2014 by researchers with the Nursing Executive Center identified that an area for improvement in staff engagement among nurses was in the provision of recognition related to achievements and contributions to care. This survey was completed by more than 340000 employees within 575 health organizations. Assessment of the survey results revealed that meaningful recognition provided in a timely fashion can lead to an engaged workforce. Providing effective recognition for employees is possible by linking recognition to specific accomplishments, allowing recognition to be delivered by a person who possesses professional importance, and delivering recognition in a timely fashion. Overall, recognition of employee achievements and activities provides a positive environment in addition to motivating employees and improving their overall moods. While well studied throughout the last decades and despite well-documented assessments in the fields of nursing and health care, there is minimal information published regarding the process of rewards and recognition within departments of pharmacy. This commentary seeks to identify and describe some current processes of recognition and rewards for pharmacy staff. An exploratory survey was sent through the Vizient listserve to identify novel practices related to pharmacy staff recognition and rewards. Institutions were asked to share meaningful ways that pharmacy team members are being recognized for their outstanding work on a daily basis. The following information was requested from participating institutions: name, institution, job title, e-mail, and brief description of the “best practice” method used to reward/recognize pharmacy team members for their efforts. Nineteen institutions participated in the survey and shared numerous initiatives utilized for staff. Three program types were noted by more than one institution: criteria-based awards, thank you notes, and public recognition.