Preceptor Expansion Initiative

STFM is leading a multi-year interprofessional, interdisciplinary initiative to address the shortage of high-quality clinical training sites for students.

Aims

Decrease the percentage of primary care clerkship directors who report difficulty finding clinical preceptor sites
Increase the percentage of students completing clerkships at high-functioning sites

Resources for AAFP and ACOFP Chapters

Preceptor Recognition Resources

Recognize and reward your community preceptors.

Clerkship Onboarding Resources

Prepare students for rotations and streamline and standardize the student onboarding process.

Preceptor Onboarding Resources

Reduce administrative burden for preceptors by standardizing the onboarding process.

Faculty Development:

About the Initiative

Over the past several years, the Preceptor Expansion Initiative has celebrated many successes, including a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) change to student documentation requirements, an American Board of Family Medicine Precepting Performance Improvement Program, resources for standardized onboarding of students and preceptors, a multi-year pilot project during a pandemic, sharing of strategies on tax incentives for preceptors, and outreach to physicians through presentations and publications.

A Bonus, Not a Burden: How Medical Students Can Add Value to Your Practice. FPM. September/October 2021
Medical student precepting is crucial for a robust primary-care workforce. Modern Healthcare. June 2021
STFM Releases New Medical School Resources. Annals of Family Medicine. July/August 2019
Recognize Teaching Contributions With New STFM Precepting Awards. STFM Messenger. June 1, 2019
In Case You Missed It⁠—Flurry of Activity for Preceptor Expansion Initiative. STFM Messenger. June 19, 2019
CMS Says Multiple Students Can Participate in Patient Care and Documentation. STFM Messenger. May 15, 2019
DOs take part in family medicine pilot program to improve clinical training. The DO. April 19, 2019
UICOMP selected as pilot site by Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. The University of Illinois College of Medicine. April 2019
Family Medicine Core Clerkship Selected as Pilot Site in New STFM Learning Collaborative. Stanford Medicine. April 2019
NC AHEC Selected for National Pilot Project to Address Training Needs of Medical Students. North Carolina AHEC. April 2019
Two Ohio Medical Schools Selected for National Pilot Project to Address Training Needs of Medical Students. Ohio Academy of Family Physicians. April 2019
New Community Faculty Self-Assessment Tool Provides Personalized Tips to Enhance Teaching. STFM Messenger. April 12, 2019
Preliminary Results of the ABFM/STFM Precepting Performance Improvement Pilot. Annals of Family Medicine. March/April 2019
Building Better Clinical Training Experiences Pilot Sites Announced. STFM Messenger. March 27, 2019
New Program Offers ABFM Credit for Improvement in Teaching. STFM Messenger. March 27, 2019
Preceptor Expansion Initiative Takes Multi-Tactic Approach to Addressing Shortage of Clinical Training Sites. Family Medicine. February 2019
Apply Now for STFM Pilots Aimed at Improved Training. AAFP News Now. January 23, 2019
CMS E/M Service Documentation Provided by Students. KU School of Medicine. January 2019.
Building Better Clinical Training Experiences: A Learning Collaborative. Annals of Family Medicine. January 2019
Preceptor Expansion Initiative Gains Traction. STFM Messenger. December 18, 2018
Preceptor Expansion Initiative Action Plan: Update from STFM. Family Medicine for America’s Health. October 2018
American Board of Family Medicine Foundation Approves Grant for Preceptor Expansion Initiative. STFM Messenger. July 10, 2018
Initiative Creates Efficiencies and Incentives for Preceptors. AAFP Chapters. Summer 2018
STFM and ABFM Pilot Precepting Performance Improvement Program. Annals of Family Medicine. May/June 2018
CMS Clarifies Rule, Again Requires Preceptors to Redo Student Work. PAEA. May 9, 2018
New Opportunity to Receive American Board of Family Medicine Performance Improvement Credit for Teaching. UNC Healthcare. May 3, 2018
Preceptor Expansion Oversight Committee Discusses Next Steps on CMS Guidelines and Creating Efficiencies and Incentives for Teaching. STFM Messenger. April 11, 2018
Policy Change from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Provides an Opportunity to Improve Medical Student Education and Recruit Community Preceptors. Academic Medicine. April 10, 2018
Preceptor Expansion Action Plan – Description and Progress Update. Family Medicine. April 2018
CMS announces major change to rules on medical student documentation. Legacy Health. March 2018
Updated E/M Documentation Rules Good for Preceptors. AAFP News Now. February 16, 2018
Medicare eases burden for E/M documentation involving medical students. A blog from FPM Journal. February 9, 2018
New CMS guidelines eliminate requirement to re-document student notes. Becker’s Hospital Review. February 7, 2018
Revised CMS Rule Should Ease Preceptors’ Administrative Burden, Help with Recruitment. PAEA. February 7, 2018
Committee Tackles Community Preceptor Shortage. Ann Fam Med. September/October 2017 vol. 15no. 5 484-486
Committee Tackles Shortage of Community Preceptors. STFM Messenger. June 14, 2017
STFM Responds to Community Preceptor Shortage. Ann Fam Med. November/
December 2016 vol. 14 no. 6 583-585
Stakeholder Meeting Addresses Shortage of Clinical Training Sites. PAEA. March 1, 2017
Summit Will Address the Shortage of High-Quality Family Medicine Community Preceptors. Ann Fam Med. May/June 2016vol. 14 no. 3 282-283
STFM to Address the Shortage of High-Quality Community Preceptors. STFM Messenger. May 13, 2016

Precepting: How You Can Help Your State's Medical Students. AAFP Chapter Meetings. 2021-2022.
Tax Incentives for Precepting. Do They Work, and Are They Making A Difference? STFM Webinar. July 2021.
New Ideas for Tackling the Preceptor Shortage in Your State. AAFP Chapter Leadership Forum. May 2021.
Building Better Clinical Training Experiences: A Learning Collaborative. 2020 GFA Professional Development Conference. July 23, 2020.
Welcome & Update on STFM Preceptor Expansion Initiative. University of Kentucky Annual Voluntary Faculty Conference. March 7, 2020.
Building Better Clinical Training Experiences: A Learning Collaborative. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2020.
Moving From Pilot to Performance- Lessons Learned From Four Sites’ Development of the ABFM/STFM Preceptor Improvement Program. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2020.
Ease the Load of Precepting: Efficiently Integrating Students Into Clinical Rotations. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. January 31, 2020.
Recruiting and Retaining Preceptors: How to Put the Resources From the Preceptor Expansion Initiative to Use Now. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. January 31, 2020.
Implementation of CMS Guidelines on Student Documentation. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. January 31, 2020.
Win–Win: Improving Community Preceptor Clinical Teaching While Earning MOC Credit. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. January 31, 2020.
Community-Based Faculty: New Approaches to Valuing a Critical Resource. Learn Serve Lead: AAMC Annual Meeting. November 9, 2019
Easing the Load of Precepting. Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) Fall Education Forum. October 10, 2019
Preceptor Development. Missouri Healthcare Workforce Coalition. October 4, 2019.
Preceptor Expansion Initiative: Recruiting and Retaining High Quality Training Sites for Medical Students. HRSA Stakeholder's Meeting. August 9, 2019
ABFM Preceptor Performance Improvement Program Pilot—Lessons Learned From Four UGME Institutions. STFM Annual Spring Conference. April 29, 2019.
The Impact of 2018 CMS Guidelines on Medical Student Documentation. STFM Annual Spring Conference. April 29, 2019.
Update on the Faculty Competencies Project. STFM Annual Spring Conference. April 28, 2019.
Medical Student Charting Restrictions Lifted—What Next? STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 2, 2019
To Write or Not to Write? How Involved Should Medical Students Be in Clinical Documentation? STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 2, 2019
EPIC Endeavors: Incorporating Use of the EHR in the Third-Year Clerkship. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 2, 2019
Easing the Load of Precepting: Efficiently Integrating Students into Ambulatory Training Sites. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 2, 2019
Promoting Effective Feedback by Clerkship Preceptors Through an ABFM/STFM Pilot Precepting Performance Improvement Activity. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
Addressing the Challenges of Preceptor Development and Recruitment. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
Rollout of the ABFM Performance Improvement Precepting Program. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
Help Preceptors Earn ABFM Performance Improvement Credit With TeachingPhysician.org. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
A Preceptor Teaching Improvement Course: A Maintenance of Certification Pilot. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
Standardized Student Assessment as Part of a Pilot ABFM Performance Improvement Project. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
The Impact of 2018 CMS Guidelines on Medical Student Documentation. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 1, 2019
A Multiorganizational Plan to Address the Shortage of High Quality Community Preceptors. 2018 NAO Biennial Conference, July 9, 2018
Helping to Make Students Important Members of the Team. HRSA Advisory Committee on Interdisciplinary, Community-Based Linkages Webinar. June 6, 2018.
CMS Change in the Use of Medical Student Documentation. AAMC Webinar. June 6, 2018
Addressing the Preceptor Crisis: Implementation of the Preceptor Expansion Action Plan and How You Can Help. STFM Annual Spring Conference. May 7, 2018
An Update for Residency Programs from the American Board of Family Medicine. AAFP PDW/RPS. March 25, 2018.
ABFM Performance Improvement Precepting Program: A Pilot. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 3, 2018
Multiorganizational Plan to Address the Shortage of High Quality Community Preceptors. STFM Conference on Medical Student Education. February 2, 2018
Six Tactics to Solve the Crisis of Community Preceptor Retention & Recruitment. AAMC Annual Meeting: Learn, Serve, Lead. November 6, 2017
HRSA Stakeholders’ Meeting. February 22, 2017

This initiative stemmed from Family Medicine for America’s Health’s Workforce Education and Development Core Team’s task to identify, develop, and disseminate resources for community preceptors. The work is being funded by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, the American Board of Family Medicine Foundation, and the Physician Assistant Education Association.