LPP for Prospective Preceptors

The Longitudinal Preceptor Program has been a prominent part of medical school education for years and is a key clinical experience which shapes student professional development. The LPP program is part of the required Doctoring and Clinical Skills Course (DCS) in years 1 & 2. The experience lasts for approximately 1 ½ years. Over time the program has evolved and branched out to include both inpatient and outpatient contexts, urgent care, emergency departments and sub-specialty clinics. We continue to work on better preparing students for the broad range of experiences required of them in the clinical years. Some key features of LPP are as follows:

• LPP begins during the first year of medical school and typically runs through the first semester of the second year. 
• Time commitment: First year students attend 11 sessions over the course of their academic year beginning in October and running through May. Second year students attend 6 sessions, usually occurring August - December (Fall semester). One session is equivalent to roughly 3 hours.
• A session is not meant to be solely a shadowing experience, but a chance for students to interact with patients to begin practicing their history taking, physical exam, and some basic problem solving skills. 
• We have transitioned from a more traditional model where students were assigned to a single preceptor (1-to-1) for their entire LPP experience into a new model (as of 2019) where students are assigned 2 preceptors (1-to-2); this meaning that preceptors are assigned 2 students (2-to-1).
• Half of an individual student's sessions are completed with a primary care preceptor (Internal Medicine, Family Medicine, Hospitalist, Emergency Medicine) and half are completed with a Specialist or Pediatrician.
• Preceptors are assigned 2 students but would only have 1 student attend a session at a time and would still complete the same total number of sessions throughout the first and second year (11 total during the first year, 6 total during the second year).
• The purpose of this newer model is to broaden students’ learning experience and increase exposure to a variety of specialties.