PRECEPTOR RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, AND DEVELOPMENT RESOURCES

Precepting Performance Improvement Toolkit

Recognize and reward your preceptors by offering ABFM Continuing Certification Credit for improvement in their teaching of medical students and family medicine residents. This toolkit features sample forms and assessments, examples of performance-improvement activities, and frequently asked questions.

The American Board of Family Medicine (ABFM) Precepting Performance Improvement Program allows academic units (sponsors) to offer Performance Improvement credit (MOC IV) to family physicians who teach medical students or residents and who participate in a teaching improvement activity.Use the Precepting Performance Improvement Toolkit to recognize and reward your preceptors while offering them ABFM Continuing Certification Credit for participating in teaching improvement activities.

Responsibilities of Sponsors and Preceptors

Responsibilities of the Sponsors

A "sponsor" for the ABFM Precepting Performance Improvement Program is a medical school, residency program, or other “academic unit” that applies to be a sponsor.

Work with preceptors to improve performance
Keep auditable records (hours of teaching, performance-improvement projects, and attestations)
Demographics (ABFM#, email, etc.)
Notify ABFM of completions

Responsibilities of Preceptors

Implement intervention to improve teaching
Complete at least 180 1:1 contact hours (clinical teaching)
Review pre and post data
Complete an attestation

Medical school, residency program, or other “academic unit” applies to be a sponsor
Sponsor works with preceptor to implement teaching-focused performance improvement activity
Preceptor conducts 180 1-on-1 teaching hours
Preceptor attests to participation
Sponsor submits completion to ABFM
ABFM posts completion to physician portfolio

Ideas for Performance Improvement Activities

Live and Recorded Seminar

TeachingPhysician.org

Educational Videos

Precepting "Pearls"

Live and Recorded Seminar

Aim

Improve the self evaluation of the educator and the learners' evaluation of the educator by 20% using a 5-point Likert scale

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Resident survey: Residents rate each preceptor on a Likert scale with these questions:

Did the preceptor listen to your presentation?
Did the preceptor give you feedback on your presentation?
Did the preceptor encourage you to develop a differential diagnosis?
Did the preceptor allow you to present your treatment plan?
Did the preceptor take time to teach on some aspect of the disease process/exam/treatment?
Did the preceptor give you summary feedback at the end of your half day?

Preceptor survey: Preceptors rate themselves on a Likert scale with these questions:

Do you have a systematic approach to the resident and the patient?
Do you listen to the resident’s presentation without interruption?
Do you give the resident feedback on their presentation?
Do you encourage the resident to develop a differential diagnosis?
Do you allow the resident to present their treatment plan?
Do you take time to teach on some aspect of the disease process/exam/treatment?
Do you give the resident summary feedback at the end of their half day?

Learning Activity

A two-part seminar (live and/or recorded) on "How to Precept" and "Precepting Collaboratively"

TeachingPhysician.org

Aim

Improve the self-assessment of the preceptor on two community faculty subcompetencies

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Self-assessment using the interactive online Community Faculty Self-Assessment tool in TeachingPhysician.org

Learning Activity

The interactive online self-assessment tool allows preceptors to self-identify their teaching competency areas and highlight areas of interest for future improvement. The results from the self-assessment tool contain links to faculty development content on TeachingPhysician.org. After reviewing the content, preceptors complete a quiz and print out a certificate of completion. They then test their new knowledge in a teaching setting before completing a follow-up self-assessment for comparison.

Educational Videos

Aim

The preceptor(s) creates a better learning environment, as evidenced by improved learner evaluations and feedback about the preceptor over a period of 180 contact hours with the learner.

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Teaching skills self-assessment; additionally, preceptors will be asked to complete a reflection on how their instructional behaviors have changed

Learning Activity

Preceptors watch 10–15 minute videos on giving feedback to learners, preparing the clinic to accommodate a learner, and how to handle unprofessional behavior from a learner. They apply the knowledge with the next precepted learner.

Aim

Preceptors elevate their relationships with resident learners to that of junior colleagues, not subordinates.

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Resident surveys pre- and post-faculty development interventions
BERK assessment 60–90 days after faculty retreat to see if the teaching styles have changed

Learning Activity

Preceptors attend a 4-hour retreat and review literature

Precepting "Pearls"

Aim

Increase engagement between preceptor and student

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Pre- and post-surveys of students and preceptors: “Did communication of the pearl help you feel more engaged with the preceptor/student?”

Learning Activity

Preceptor develops and emails to student a “pearl:” a clinical question that came up during a teaching session

Student must submit an answer back to preceptor

Sample Forms, Assessments, and Communications

Self-Assessments

A self-assessment is one way to gather baseline and post data. It can be used to identify areas for self-growth or for group faculty development activities.

Teaching Skills Tool for Faculty (PDF) Community Faculty Competencies Self Assessment (PDF)

Attestation Form

An attestation form should be completed by ABFM-certified physicians who seek Family Medicine Certification credit for completing an approved Performance Improvement (PI) activity. Attestations should be retained by Sponsoring Institutions.

Sample Attestation Form Provided by the ABFM (PDF)

Tracking Spreadsheet

ABFM requires sponsors to maintain auditable record-keeping systems to track physician participation. A spreadsheet can be a piece of a record-keeping system.

Sample Tracking Spreadsheet (XLS)

Communications

Sample Newsletter Article (Word) Sample Email for Communication With Preceptors (Word) Sample Flyer for Preceptors (PDF)

Frequently Asked Questions About the Toolkit

Who can offer credit through the ABFM Precepting Performance Improvement Program?

Academic units—medical school departments, residency programs, and other entities—can apply to be sponsors. Sponsors have to reapply every three years.

What is a portfolio manager?

A portfolio manager is a person designated by the sponsor to be responsible for communication with the ABFM. The portfolio manager oversees the Sponsor's portfolio of improvement activities and submits physician completion results to the ABFM.

Can preceptors who are not family physicians earn this credit?

This is an American Board of Family Medicine program that's part of certification for family physicians. Only family physicians can earn the credit.

What is an intervention/performance improvement activity?

This is basically, at least one round of a PDSA (plan-do-study-act) cycle:

Identify an area of need based on data
Write an explicit aim for improvement that describes what will be improved, a desired goal, and a timeframe for achieving improvement
Undertake a learning activity such as an online course, evidence-based reading, or in-person training
Implement what was learned through the teaching of medical students or residents
Measure to see if there's been an improvement

What can be used for baseline/post intervention data?

There are many options. Some include:

A self-evaluation of teaching skills performed by the teaching physician
An assessment of the teaching physician by the sponsor
Student evaluations of preceptors

What does 180 1:1 contact hours mean?

To earn this credit, a preceptor must spend 180 hours precepting medical students and/or residents. This does not include didactic presentation time. If multiple learners are present—for example during rounds—actual time is counted, not the amount of time multiplied by the number of learners.

Can preceptors count time precepting PAs and nurse practitioners as part of the 180 1:1 contact hours?

Only time precepting medical students and residents count toward the 180 hours.

How should preceptors count and track their teaching time?

Ideally, the academic unit will count and track time, so as not to provide a burden on the preceptor. Typically, the academic unit knows how much time a learner is assigned to a preceptor.

How long does a preceptor have to complete an improvement activity and finish the 180 hours?

Physicians are required to complete one performance improvement activity during their 3-year certification cycle. So, depending on where in the cycle they start the activity and teaching, they can take up to 3 years to complete the requirements.

What is an attestation?

An attestation is a document signed by the preceptor attesting that he/she actively participated in the performance improvement activity and the required 1:1 teaching. Attestations should be retained by sponsors.

How do sponsors submit completions to ABFM and what do they submit?

Log in to MOCAM. On the right side of the dashboard, click on Precepting Physician Completion Report. Upon opening the application, enter today’s date in the name field. For each ABFM Diplomate being submitted for credit, add a row to the table. For each Diplomate provide the following information:

Board ID: The ABFM Board ID of the Diplomate. ABFM Board IDs are 6 digits in length and being with a one (1) or zero (0).
Last Name: The last name, as provided to the ABFM.
First Name: The first name, as provided to the ABFM. The name must match (e.g., Jeffrey vs. Jeff).
Email: The email address for the Diplomate.
Start Date: Indicate the date the Diplomate started participating in the project. The date may not be before the start date of your participation in the Precepting Program.
End Date: Indicate the date the Diplomate met the participation requirements for the project. The date may not be in the future.
Instance ID: This is a calculated value.

You can also select the "Import" button to populate the data from an appropriately formatted spreadsheet.

What do sponsors have to keep records of?

For each participating preceptor, sponsors should keep records of the pre and post measurement, the aim and improvement activity, and the attestation.

What do preceptors have to keep records of?

Preceptors do not have to keep records.

Can residents participate this program to fulfill the required QI component of certification?

No.

Can the portfolio manager submit individual preceptors’ data one by one, as each preceptor completes the 180 hours? Or do all participating preceptors have to be submitted together?

You can submit as they come in or wait until the end of the month and submit a batch of those that have completed.

On the sample attestation form, one of the “yes/no” questions is “I was engaged in planning and executing the project.” Not all of our faculty are involved planning the project in a big picture way. Is that okay?

As long as the physician completes the required teaching hours and is involved in their assessment, intervention, and review of the data, they meet the requirements.

On the sample attestation form, one of the “yes/no” questions is “I participated in team meetings for the project.” Our structure does not involve regular team meetings. Will preceptors get credit even without team meetings?

Yes.

Questions?

If you have questions about the toolkit, contact Mary Theobald at the email link below.

CONTACT STAFF WITH QUESTIONS

11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway

Leawood, KS 66211

(800) 274-7928

stfmoffice@stfm.org

About

Advocacy

Governance

Key Initiatives

Membership

Journals

Other Publications

CAFM Educational Research Alliance (CERA)

Research Resources

Annual Spring Conference

Conference on Medical Student Education

Conference on Practice & Quality Improvement

General Information

Certificate Programs

Webinars

Online Courses

Fellowships

Other Faculty Training

STFM Curriculum

More Curriculum Resources

Resources Fundamental to Family Medicine Education

Topic-Specific Aggregated Resources

Preceptor Recruitment and Retention Resources

Resources For

Awards

Scholarships

STFM Project Fund

Precepting Performance Improvement Toolkit

Responsibilities of Sponsors and Preceptors

Responsibilities of the Sponsors

Responsibilities of Preceptors

Basics of the Toolkit

Ideas for Performance Improvement Activities

Live and Recorded Seminar

Aim

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Learning Activity

TeachingPhysician.org

Aim

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Learning Activity

Educational Videos

Aim

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Learning Activity

Aim

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Learning Activity

Precepting "Pearls"

Aim

Pre- and Post-Measurement

Learning Activity

Sample Forms, Assessments, and Communications

Frequently Asked Questions About the Toolkit

Who can offer credit through the ABFM Precepting Performance Improvement Program?

What is a portfolio manager?

Can preceptors who are not family physicians earn this credit?

What is an intervention/performance improvement activity?

What can be used for baseline/post intervention data?

What does 180 1:1 contact hours mean?

Can preceptors count time precepting PAs and nurse practitioners as part of the 180 1:1 contact hours?

How should preceptors count and track their teaching time?

How long does a preceptor have to complete an improvement activity and finish the 180 hours?

What is an attestation?

How do sponsors submit completions to ABFM and what do they submit?

What do sponsors have to keep records of?

What do preceptors have to keep records of?

Can residents participate this program to fulfill the required QI component of certification?

Can the portfolio manager submit individual preceptors’ data one by one, as each preceptor completes the 180 hours? Or do all participating preceptors have to be submitted together?

On the sample attestation form, one of the “yes/no” questions is “I was engaged in planning and executing the project.” Not all of our faculty are involved planning the project in a big picture way. Is that okay?

On the sample attestation form, one of the “yes/no” questions is “I participated in team meetings for the project.” Our structure does not involve regular team meetings. Will preceptors get credit even without team meetings?

Questions?

Contact Us

Events

Deadlines

Useful Links

AI Chatbot Tips

Tips for Using STFM's AI Assistant

1. Avoid Ambiguous Language

Example: