Adjunct Clinical Faculty -- Physician Assistant

   Welcome Adjunct Clinical Faculty

On behalf of AdventHealth University we would like to thank you for your participation as a clinical preceptor for the AHU Physician Assistant Program. We appreciate the time you graciously give teaching the next generation of healthcare professionals.

Adjunct Clinical Faculty for the AdventHealth University Physician Assistant program are clinical faculty who serve a central role in the clinical education of physician assistant (PA) students. He/she/they are responsible for monitoring student educational progress and for supervising student clinical learning. The Accreditation Review Commission on Education for the Physician Assistant specifies that clinical faculty/preceptors are physicians (MD or DO) who are specialty board certified in their area of instruction, certified PAs teamed with physicians who are specialty board certified in their area of instruction or other licensed health care providers (nurse practitioners or nurse midwives) experienced in their area of instruction. Responsibilities are published in the PA Program Adjunct Clinical Faculty PDF, please use the link below to access this information.

The Preceptor Orientation Handbook was developed by the Clinical Education Committee of the Physician Assistant Education Association (PAEA) providing tips, tools, and guidance for physician assistant preceptors. You, as a clinical preceptor, are the key to successful learning experiences for our students taking them from theoretical classroom learning to active, hands-on learning. Please use the link below to access this guide and contact the Clinical Director with any questions, comments, or concerns.

AdventHealth University recognizes that precepting is a commitment of a provider’s time and energy and offers the following incentives for preceptors willing to share their medical expertise with our physician assistant students:

• AHU title assignment: ADJUNCT CLINICAL FACULTY designation

• Tuition discount for AHU courses:
  • Physician and/or PA/FNP preceptors: 35% discount
  • Immediate family members: Spouse/Children: 35% discount
  • Limited to one annual “voucher” per preceptor per year to apply to self or immediate family member.
  • This “voucher” could be redeemed for a discount to the following AHU programs: MHASI, BSHA, BSIS, or General Ed (unrelated to other specific professional programs)

• Continuing education:
  • PAs are eligible to earn a total of 2 AAPA Category 1 CME credits per week for each PA student they precept. Forty (40) hours of direct precepting is equivalent to one week of precepting. A maximum of 20 AAPA Category 1 CME credits per calendar year may be awarded to each preceptor. All CME beyond 20 credits may be awarded and considered as Category 2 CME. 
  • MDs, DOs and NPs may claim category 2 CME for precepting PA students

• AHU library access providing adjunct clinical faculty with access to:
  • Up-To-Date, Lexicomp, Access Medicine and other evidence based medicine resources
  • Medical Journals and electronic textbooks
  • Access to check out any print resource

• Certificate of appreciation: acknowledgement and certificate of hours spent with students for resume building

• The most priceless incentive that precepting offers: The joy of giving back to the medical community and inspiring future PA students to become knowledgeable, compassionate, and spiritually cognizant healthcare providers!

The Program Policy Manual for the Master of Science in Physician Assistant Studies serves to provide students, primary faculty, and clinical faculty with important information as students progress through the program. This manual is designed to serve as a supplement to other university publications including but not limited to the AdventHealth University Academic Catalog.

“Professional competence is the habitual and judicious use of communication, knowledge, technical skills, clinical reasoning, emotions, values and reflection in daily practice for the benefit of the individual and community being served” Epstein RM, Hundert EM. Professional behavior is an expectation of all students in the PA Program.

Students will be evaluated on their professional appearance and conduct in addition to their academic and clinical skills. Each students’ demonstration of professionalism will be assessed by his/her/their preceptor (included in each clinical rotation’s preceptor evaluation forms)  as well as by the program.

Some examples of expected professional behaviors during the clinical year include, but are not limited to the following:

• Arrival to clinic prior to start of shift.
• Reporting to the rotation well groomed, dressed and equipped appropriately.
  • Unless otherwise requested by the preceptor, professional dress as outlined in the policy manual is required.
• Exhibiting concern for patients’ needs and rights.
• Accepting responsibility for actions.
• Demonstrating intellectual honesty and academic integrity as defined in the AHU Program Policy Manual.
• Communicating effectively with patients, peers, physicians and other hospital personnel.
• Demonstrating interest in the clinical rotation and shows initiative to seek out supporting activities.
• Submission of assignments on time and with total completion.
• Appropriate preparation for rotations by reviewing study material/resources, core competencies, learning outcomes, instructional objectives, grading, examinations, evaluations, assignments, patient logs, schedules/time sheet, remediation, supplemental learning, and the PAEA exam topic lists.

To ensure that all AHU physician assistant students have met the established clinical curriculum competencies and outcomes, the program has established patient encounter benchmarks to be completed over the course of the clinical year. Students may complete the required patient encounters through experiences in the various rotation disciplines across the clinical year. (e.g. a pediatric encounter may also occur in the emergency medicine or family medicine rotations). All required patient encounters must be completed and recorded in the Typhon clinical tracking system by the completion of the EOR examination date.

Clinical Year Minimum Patient Encounter Experience Benchmarks:

• 35 infants (0-12 months old)/student/year
• 80 children (1-10 years old)/student/year
• 35 adolescents (11-17 years old)/student/year
• 400 adults (18-64 years old)/student/year
• 130 older adults/elderly (>65 years old)/student/year
• 18 prenatal encounters/student/year
• 40 gynecology encounters/student/year
• 25 preoperative patients encounters/student/year
• 25 intraoperative encounters/student/year
• 30 postoperative encounters/student/year
• 40 psychiatric/behavioral health encounters/student/year
• 40 preventative encounters/student/year
• 50 emergent encounters/student/year
• 400 acute encounters/student/year
• 100 chronic encounters/student/year