Clinical experience is one of the most exciting parts of education at Allen College. Graduate students are required to have practiced as nurses and come with a wide range of backgrounds and experience. We rely on the student to help direct their clinical practicum. Students will be asked to assist in finding preceptors that will provide them the clinical experience they need. The College must assure that preceptors and clinical sites meet standards and requirements set by accreditors. The college will be responsible for ensuring students find preceptors. This section gives an overview of the process. Please feel free to contact the clinical faculty with any questions or the Clinical Coordinator, Kristen Grapp (Kristen.Grapp@vbj4.com), who can provide suggestions.

Preceptor Approval Process

• Once students have identified a provider willing to precept, the student will submit preceptor contact and credential information to their faculty.
• When approved, agreements are sent to the preceptor and agency which provides legal assurances to both parties and covers the student during their clinical experience.
• Once the agreements are signed, the student will contact the preceptor to work out a schedule. Faculty will provide their contact information to preceptors.
• Preceptors will verify student hours and evaluations on-line.

Preceptors are encouraged to contact faculty with any questions about the process or the student.

Preceptor Orientation Video

• Contribute to the education of future providers - your knowledge and experience is important in developing quality providers of the future
• Assure sufficient numbers of providers - there is a shortage of primary care providers in this community and country
• Promote your practice - showcase your practice and its distinct strengths to promote referrals
• Help identify possible good fit - develop relationships with future providers that may become part of your practice in the future
• Service to your profession - good role models are important to developing our profession
• Fresh perspective - students can often provide a different prospective on patients and your practice helping you to continue to grow

New Emphasis for Nurse Practitioner Students

Allen College recently established a Rural and Underserved Populations emphasis for Nurse Practitioner (NP) students. The number of NPs being recruited to work in low income and rural areas nearly doubled in recent years. Both low income and rural populations have increased risk factors for diabetes, COPD, cardiovascular disease, and mental illness. Both encounter increased barriers due to care access and social determinants leading to poorer outcomes. Providing additional content and experience for students in these areas assures Allen students are prepared to meet this demand and improve patient outcomes.

The emphasis is voluntary and requires participating students to attend two 7-hour seminars, in addition to their regular coursework, and they must complete 150 of their clinical hours in rural and/or underserved areas. The Care of Rural populations Seminar includes content on health care issues related to farming and rural living, farm safety and prevention, and migrant and farm worker culture and health concerns. The seminar on Care of Underserved Populations covers poverty, homelessness, African American healthcare, care of LGBTQ+ community, mental health, and substance use disorder. Both seminars focus on social determinants and resources available.

The intent of the emphasis is to equip these new healthcare providers with knowledge, competence, and resources to provide exceptional care to patients in rural or farm settings and to low income patient populations who currently struggle with disparity in health outcomes. Beginning fall 2021, these seminars will be opened to seasoned healthcare providers who want to earn CEUs and learn more about these special populations.

Working in the healthcare environment demands that we use all of the tools we can get to help us provide the best care with the most current evidence. This is a listing of some on-line resources that our providers and students have found helpful.  We don't promote any of these (they are public domain) and users should always investigate resources to assure they meet your needs.  We simply provide these links for your convenience.

Epocrates
Free online medication resource. Available on mobile devices. Also offers upgrades for a fee.
http://www.epocrates.com/

Dynamed
Evidence based research tool. Pay annual fee.
http://www.dynamed.com

Up-to-date
Gold standard for on-line research. Pay annual fee.
http://www.uptodate.com/home

CDC
Gold standard for researching latest guidelines for infectious disease, immunizations, and treatments.
http://www.cdc.gov

Immunization Action Coalition
Great tool for immunization recommendations and handouts.
http://www.immunize.org

MEDCALC
Great reference for any medical calculations, i.e. creatinine clearance, wells score, PERC score, etc
http://www.mdcalc.com

USPSTF
Latest guidelines on cancer screening, immunizations, etc. This should guide your practice when deciding screenings. You can print the guidelines every year or request a free pocketbook to carry with you http://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf

Choose Wisely Campaign
Campaign to engage providers and start discussions about unnecessary testing and treatment. Great campaign with which to become familiar
http://www.choosingwisely.org

Bright Futures
Provides pediatric well child visit guidelines and patient education resources (some of these have a fee). 
http://brightfutures.aap.org/clinical-practice/Pages/default.aspx

Medline Plus
Provides evidence based site for patient education resources. Great for patients that want to research on their own and need a reputable site.
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthtopics.html

American College of Radiology
Provides appropriateness guidelines for imaging (by topic)
http://www.acr.org/Quality-Safety/Appropriateness-Criteria

American Family Physician
Offers evidence based overviews on multiple primary care topics
http://www.aafp.org/pubs/afp.html

Medal
32,000 Evidence-Based Clinical Decision Support Tools
http://www.medicalalgorithms.com 

We can never say thank you enough. As a way to recognize your contribution to Allen College and our students we offer free access to Allen College Library services and discounted tuition for doctoral studies. (Contact Kendra Williams-Perez for more information).  

Certificates of appreciation have been mailed to over 50 preceptors this year who have given over 500 hours of their valuable time and expertise to our students.

Among those, 3 preceptors were hand delivered their certificate along with a goodie bag filled with Allen College swag as way to show our appreciation for their 2,500+ hours of dedication to our students. Sara Berns, PA-C; Dr. Jeffrey Guse, DNP, ARNP; and Jamie Barnett, ARNP are all part of the dedicated education clinic sites and have been recognized for their efforts in educating our students. We appreciate you!

Thank you to all of our DEC sites!