Welcome to the clinical faculty resource page. Whether you are looking for answers to frequently asked questions, a copy of the academic calendar, brief faculty development resources, assistance with developing letter of recommendation, or wish to access specific curriculum content, you have come to the right place.
We hope you find these resources helpful. Please let us know if there is any additional information you need to effectively teach our students.
Core Third-Year Medical Student Preceptor FAQs in the Ambulatory Setting
- What prior clinical experience does a student on their core clinical clerkships have?
Prior to entering core clerkships, students will have completed their 4-semester clinical skills course. They have learned how to obtain a patient centered history and can complete a physical exam. They have practiced documentation of a complete H and P as well as progress notes for ambulatory patient encounters. Depending on the time of year, they may or may not have completed prior clerkships in one of the six core areas.
- Family Medicine
- Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry and Neurology
- Surgery
- Women’s Health
Typical skills focused on during the ambulatory rotations include:- Taking a patient centered history
- Performing a physical exam that is appropriate for the visit type and chief complaint
- Developing a differential diagnosis
- Documenting the patient encounter
- Understanding the elements of preventive care – anticipatory guidance, motivational interviewing and routine screening
- Later in the third year, students will be able to develop management plans for routine patient concerns
- How long will a student be assigned to work with me as their ambulatory preceptor?
In the third year, students complete 3 weeks of ambulatory pediatrics, one week of ambulatory internal medicine, 2 weeks of neurology and 6 weeks of family and community medicine.
- Who in my office can precept/staff the medical student?
Each office should designate a physician lead for the rotation, but MD/DO partners as well as advanced practice providers can assist in staffing medical students.
- How many patients should a student see each day?
Students on their core clinical rotations are expected to see a minimum of 5 patients per day, and will be able to increase that number as they develop their skill set and competence. They, however, will never be expected to see your full clinic load with you.
Students have a specific set of required visit types and diagnoses that they are expected to see over the course of their clinical assignment. Preceptors are also instrumental in selecting appropriate patients for the student to see.
- How does scheduling work when I have a student?
The first couple days, students may do more “shadowing” and “scribing” as they learn about your office procedures and workflows. Once the student is familiar, they are encouraged to independently see a subset of your patients, present their findings to you, and return to the patient room with you as you verify the history, repeat the physical exam and complete the medical decision making.
Students should be clinically engaged for a minimum of 8 half days per week. They may participate in night and weekend shifts as well as overnight call. Currently, students follow the rules set forth for interns which limits them to a maximum of 24 hours continuous service.
- How is student documentation utilized in the ambulatory setting?
Both EPIC and Cerner have the capacity for students to create a billable note, as well as a medical student note type that requires an attestation but is not considered part of the official medical record and may not be used as a basis for billing. A CMS ruling that took effect in March, 2018 allows notes that were started by medical students to be taken over by the attending or resident, edited to reflect the work done by the attending or resident, and utilized for billing purposes. It is up to each preceptor, in consultation with the clerkship director, to determine which note type students should be using.
This change allows student work to be the basis for your patient encounter note and reduces the duplication that was required from CMS. Student documentation can be utilized as the basis for the attending patient note.
- Is there any stipend for precepting a medical student in my office?
For those who are not participating in Enhanced Medicaid Reimbursement Program, WMed currently provides a stipend of $50 per half day session to precept a student in the ambulatory setting. Faculty will have the opportunity to claim the number of half days precepted for any one student when they complete the student’s clinical assessment in the Elentra system.
- Do I have to be a faculty member to precept students?
Yes, you must apply for clinical faculty status in order to be the designated preceptor for your office. If you are on vacation, you may have a partner or advanced practice provider cover for you. Please know that your advanced practice providers may also apply for faculty status.
- Assessing students
Students rotating with you will are to receive regular verbal feedback on how they are developing. Each student will also need to have a formal assessment submitted at the end of your assigned time with them.
Family Medicine faculty who have students assigned to them for the entire 6 week clinical experience will also participate in the mid-clerkship feedback process.
Assessments are completed on-line using the Elentra web-based platform. Faculty will receive an email from “WMED ELENTRA ME NOTIFICATION SYSTEM” when they have an assessment to complete. The email will contain a link that will take you directly to the pending assessment. Alternately, faculty may directly enter the Elentra system at elentra.med.wmich.edu and use their WMED username and password to sign into the system and locate all outstanding assessments. Grading will be done by the clerkship director who will incorporate your observations as part of the final assessment.
There are multiple techniques for staffing/teaching in the clinical setting. Learn more about two common techniques — The One Minute Preceptor and SNAPPS — below:
- How do I apply to become a faculty member?
For more information regarding the benefits and responsibility of faculty, please proceed to the faculty affairs section of the WMed website. You may apply for faculty status online through the WMed Portal (login required).
- How do I help a student select an appropriate journal for publication?
The changing mechanisms of scholarly publishing may make it difficult for a scholar to determine where to publish the results of research or creative works. In order to assist authors in making the best decisions for your work, and to avoid journals that may not be credible, the Medical Library has created a web site for the evaluation of journal titles and Open Access options offered by publishers.
Advanced (Fourth-Year) Medical Student Preceptor FAQs in the Ambulatory Setting
- What prior clinical experience does a student on their advanced clinical clerkships have?
Prior to participating on 4th year ambulatory rotations, all students will have completed 7-week rotations in the following clinical areas:
- Family Medicine
- Medicine
- Pediatrics
- Psychiatry and Neurology
- Surgery
- Women’s Health
Depending on the time of year the student is rotating with you, they may also have completed sub-internships in inpatient or ICU settings, as well as emergency medicine. Students are required to take an additional 20 weeks of electives, which may be clinical or non-clinical in nature. They will have taken and passed Step 1, and may have already taken Step 2 CK.
- Typical skills focused on during the ambulatory rotations in the 4th year
Students have gained competency in interviewing, physical examination, documentation and developing a differential diagnosis during their third year. As fourth-year students, areas of increased focus to develop would include patient goal-setting, developing management plans through the process of shared decision making, and educating patients on preventive health topics. Students are also learning about healthcare system science and strategies to ensure patient safety.
- How long will a student be assigned to work with me as their ambulatory preceptor?
Students may take 2- or 4-week ambulatory clerkships
- Who in my office can precept/staff the medical student?
Physician (MD/DO) preceptors with WMed faculty appointments should be designated for each student, but partners as well as advanced practice providers can assist in staffing medical students if their preceptor is unavailable.
- How many patients should a student see each day?
Students on their advanced clinical rotations are expected to see 6-8 patients per day, and may be able to increase that number depending on the complexity of the patients assigned as well as their skill level as the academic year progresses.
There are no specific required visit types or diagnoses that students are expected to see over the course of their clinical assignment. Preceptors and students should discuss individual learning goals to assist in patient selection.
- How does scheduling work when I have a student?
It will be beneficial for your student to directly observe and be directly observed the first day or two in order to learn about your office procedures and workflows and for you to understand the level of competence your student possesses. Once you have developed a level of trust with your students, they should be encouraged to independently see a subset of your patients, present their findings to you, and return to the patient room with you as you verify the history, repeat the physical exam and complete the medical decision making. While fourth-year students may not independently care for patients, they should fully understand the limits of their medical knowledge and seek your assistance to ensure safe, effective patient care. One method for scheduling when you have a learner with you is "Wave Scheduling". An example of this can be seen at .
Students should be clinically engaged for a minimum of eight half days per week. They may participate in evening and weekend clinics.
- How is student documentation utilized in the ambulatory setting?
Both EPIC and Cerner have the capacity for students to initiate a billable note, as well as a medical student note type that requires an attestation but is not considered part of the official medical record and may not be used as a basis for billing. A CMS ruling that took effect in March, 2018 allows notes that were started by medical students to be taken over by the attending or resident, edited to reflect the work done by the attending or resident, and utilized for billing purposes. It is up to each preceptor, in consultation with the clerkship director, to determine which note type students should be using, but 4th year students should all be capable of starting an accurate note that can be edited by their attending.
This change allows student work to be the basis for your patient encounter note and reduces the duplication that was formerly required from CMS.
- Do I have to be a faculty member to precept students?
Yes, you must apply for clinical faculty status in order to be the designated preceptor for your office. If you are on vacation, any of your partners or advanced practice providers may cover for you. Please know that your advanced practice providers may also apply for faculty status.
- Assessing students
Students rotating with you are to receive regular verbal feedback on how they are developing. Each student will also need to have a formal assessment submitted at the end of the rotation. Assessments are completed on-line using the Elentra web-based platform. Faculty will receive an email from “WMED ELENTRA ME NOTIFICATION SYSTEM” when they have an assessment to complete. The email will contain a link that will take you directly to the pending assessment. Alternately, faculty may directly enter the Elentra system at elentra.med.wmich.edu and use their WMED username and password to sign into the system and locate all outstanding assessments. All fourth year elective rotations are Pass/Fail only, and you will be asked whether the student passed their rotation in addition to your narrative comments about patient care and professionalism competencies.
There are multiple techniques for staffing/teaching involving patient encounters. Two common techniques are The One Minute Preceptor and SNAPPS.
- How to I apply to become a faculty member?
For more information regarding the benefits and responsibility of faculty, please proceed to the faculty affairs section of the WMed website. You may apply for faculty status online, as well, through the WMed website.
- How do I help a student select an appropriate journal for publication?
The changing mechanisms of scholarly publishing may make it difficult for a scholar to determine where to publish the results of research or creative works. In order to assist authors in making the best decisions for your work, and to avoid journals that may not be credible, the Medical Library has created a web site for the evaluation of journal titles and Open Access options offered by publishers.
Additional Resources
- Curriculum Information for Third- and Fourth-Year Students (Login required)
- Faculty Guide for Letters of Reference
- One-Minute Preceptor
- SNAPPS
- Wave Scheduling
- WMed Preceptor Guidebook
- Faculty Development Offerings (Login required)
- Modern Match Video Series (Login required)
- WMed Clinical Teaching Video Series (Login required)
- Academic Scholarship & Writing from the Medical Library