Development of a tool to assess and advance the effectiveness of preceptors: The Habits of Preceptors Rubric

Abstract

Purpose Present the research performed to identify and describe habits of effective pharmacy preceptors and provide a framework for targeted preceptor assessment and development. Methods A 5-round Delphi consensus-building process was used to refine the initial Habits of Preceptors Rubric (HOP-R) developed by the research team. Twenty experts in pharmacy experiential education participated. During the Delphi process, feedback and agreement on all parts of the HOP-R were sought, including the premise, introductory content, framework, preceptor domains, habits, habit level descriptions, and continuous professional development (CPD) plan. After each Delphi round, the research team grouped responses into themes and modified the draft rubric accordingly. These themes were used to frame the response document sent to the expert panel for the following Delphi round; this document explained modifications made to the HOP-R. Consensus was defined as a mean score of ≥3.25 on a 4-point scale (4 = strongly agree, 1 = strongly disagree) for posed statements or ≥70% agreement for ranked items. Results In the final Delphi round (response rate, 95%), consensus was achieved for all HOP-R individual structural and content elements except the habit level descriptors, for which a secondary rank order analysis was performed. The final HOP-R has 3 domains encompassing 11 preceptor habits that can be displayed across 4 habit levels progressing from developing to master. Conclusion The HOP-R was developed to assess, quantify, and demonstrate growth across a wide variety of pharmacy preceptor habits. Potential utility includes use as a framework to articulate the knowledge, skills, and behaviors of effective preceptors, facilitate the creation of individualized CPD plans, and assess the impact of participation in teaching and learning curricula.

Evaluation of a teaching and learning curriculum for preceptors and residents

“…students structured as clinical grand rounds, providing opportunities for CEP participants to provide didactic lectures while receiving structured feedback from faculty mentors and students. Beginning with our sixth cohort, the CEP steering committee is piloting the use of the “Habits of Preceptors Rubric” as a self‐assessment strategy to identify, quantify, and demonstrate growth across 11 preceptor habits . In addition, longitudinal assessment of the implementation of clinical education skills by alumni in the years following completion of the CEP will inform future programmatic changes.…”

Assessment of Volunteer Preceptors at Colleges and Schools of Pharmacy in the United States

“…Several reports in the literature have addressed quality assurance methods and practices of experiential programs. 4,5 Nevertheless, to the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to detail the assessment practices used by US C/SOP to evaluate volunteer preceptors.…”

“…4 Larson and colleagues developed a rubric to assess what an expert panel determined to be habits of effective preceptors. 5 While Kirschenbaum and Zerilli studied the way in which colleges and schools of pharmacy (C/SOP) assess full-time faculty preceptors, no literature was identified to document the manner in which volunteer preceptors are assessed. 6 The role of volunteer preceptors is critical in the education of pharmacy students, yet, in general, volunteers enter the role of preceptorship with limited knowledge, experience, or formal education in precepting.…”

Evaluating the change in preceptor habits while enrolled in a teaching and learning curriculum using the habits of preceptors rubric

“…Factors that are outside of a preceptor's circle of influence and control (ie, their “circle of concern”) include the health system's census, hospital structure, and policies. From a practicality standpoint, the HOP‐R was created to assess the preceptor's direct circle of influence and not intended to directly assess the preceptor's circle of concern or the learner's achievement of outcomes 13 . It is important to recognize that multiple other factors influence the achievement of learning outcomes that are beyond the scope of the preceptor's circle of influence.…”

“…The Habits of Preceptors Rubric (HOP‐R) is a criterion‐referenced assessment developed to identify and describe habits of effective pharmacy preceptors and provide a framework to assess these habits for targeted preceptor development. This tool, which is freely available for fair use in education at http://www.habitsofpreceptors.org, offers a path for preceptors‐in‐training and in‐practice to engage in meaningful self‐directed assessment and reflection 12,13 . The HOP‐R also has the potential to be utilized in a 360° fashion by incorporating assessments completed by learners, colleagues, mentors, or administrators.…”