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Become a Preceptor

Thank you for your interest in serving as a preceptor. The curriculum at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy emphasizes early, continual, and immersive exposure of our students to pharmacy practice. The success of our curriculum is dependent on the dedication of preceptors, and their commitment to improving patient care through the education of student pharmacists. Preceptors serve as the educators whose instruction, modeling, coaching, and facilitation guides student pharmacists as they apply knowledge learned in the classroom to practice.

Preceptor Recruitment and Selection

The School, through the Office of Experiential Programs, will identify pharmacy practitioners and professionals to serve as preceptors through the provision of immersive educational experiences to student pharmacists. Select preceptors that have been recognized by the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy qualify to participate in the experiential education program by meeting and adhering to the following preceptor criteria:

Preceptor Criteria:

  1. The preceptor must have obtained appropriate professional education, experience, and credentials commensurate with the proposed engagement with the experiential education program.
  2. The preceptor must be licensed and in good standing with an appropriate licensing board as required by the governing practice laws, if applicable.
  3. The preceptor must work at a site for at least six months before becoming a primary preceptor of record for that site.
  4. The preceptor should demonstrate a desire and aptitude for teaching. This should include a willingness to engage in practices which improve problem-solving skills in learners, such as instructing, modeling, coaching/mentoring, and facilitating.
  5. The preceptor should demonstrate a desire to serve as a positive role model for students by demonstrating qualities reflective of the highest professional and ethical standards within their area of practice and/or expertise.
Site Recruitment and Selection

A broad variety of quality experiential sites for introductory and advanced pharmacy practice experiences are essential to the curriculum at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Experiential sites are recruited and selected based on the following quality criteria to allow for the best possible education for our student pharmacists:

Site Criteria for All Experiential Sites

  1. The site must express a commitment to the education of student pharmacists.
  2. The site must be willing to execute a written affiliation agreement with the School defining the responsibilities, commitments, and expectations of both institutions. The site through the terms of the affiliation agreement will ensure that experiences delivered will be conducted in accordance with applicable state and federal laws.
  3. The site must have adequate learning opportunities (e.g. practice model, patient population) available to meet the educational goals for the proposed experience(s) offered.
  4. The site must have adequate management and staff to oversee practice experiences.
  5. The site must be able to provide access to information sources and adequate space to facilitate learning of the student pharmacist.

Additional Site Criteria for Patient Care Experiential Sites

1. The site must be licensed and in good standing with an appropriate licensing board as required by the governing practice laws, if applicable.
2. The site must exhibit:

  • A patient population that exhibits diversity in ethnic and/or socioeconomic culture, medical conditions, gender, and age
  • A contemporary practice model that emphasizes professional relationships with other healthcare providers.
  • A practice environment that nurtures and supports professional interactions between students, pharmacists, patients and/or caregivers.

Please note that scheduling of students at sites is highly dependent on the time of year of your application and other existing availability in your region. If you would like to know more about the needs in your area before completing the preceptor application, please contact our team at immersion @unc.edu.1. After reading preceptor and site criteria, please complete the following preceptor application (use the code TEAM1 to access):https://www.rxpreceptor.com/signup/p/?UNCAt the end of the preceptor application, there is a link to complete an on-demand preceptor training program.This on-demand training program will provide 2.0 hours of continuing education credit through delivery of relevant information to prepare preceptors for teaching in the experiential curriculum at the UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy. These can be completed once you have registered for an account and your access has been granted.2. Once your application has been processed and preceptor training has been completed, the School will reach out to you about an orientation meeting with the Director of Experiential Programs or Director of Preceptor Development. Meetings with preceptors who have students tentatively scheduled in the upcoming academic year will be prioritized. The School will reach out to you about working together to create an affiliation agreement for your site if one doesn’t already exist. Please note that this step could take 3-6 months. Some sites are visited directly by a member of the Office of Experiential Programs prior to taking students.3. An account will be created with our experiential learning management system (CORE ELMS/RxPreceptor). This system is used for student scheduling and evaluations. The scheduling cycle will impact the start of student experiences at your site. Availability is gathered by the school (and by some sites directly) during August through October to schedule students for the upcoming academic year (May through April).If you have additional questions about this process, please contact immersion@unc.edu.