Orienting the Learner to your Practice

How do I integrate the learner into my practice?

1. Inform your patients - Remember to give patients notice that learners will be in the office. Most patients are happy to have learners provide some part of their care. A few tips may help the integration of learners into your practice. This could include posting a notice in the waiting room or having the receptionist inform patients when they are booking appointments that a learner may see them. Then when the learner sees patients, introduce the learner to the patient. This prevents patients from feeling the learner was "dropped" on to them. Finally, to alleviate stress for everyone, develop a system that identifies patients who prefer not to see a learner. sample office notice
   
   
2. Modify your booking schedule -If you have an extra examination room allow the learner to see patients alone. You will be able to continue to see patients and the learner, who will likely take longer than you for the same assessment, will be able to continue at his/her own pace. If you have no extra examining room, allow the learner to see patients alone and while they do so use this time for paperwork or other office activities. Remember, this must be taken into consideration when booking patients.

How do I orient the learner to my practice?

1. The first day -Have the office manager, nurse or receptionist introduce the learner to your clinic. This might include and introduction to staff, daily office procedures and operations, dress code, when to arrive and other pertinent information for the learner to work in your practice.   Other information might include glove size, where the Rx pads are kept and the notification system to let the learner know which patients are to be seen by them. To simplify this, you may want to make a checklist of topics to be covered, or develop an information package for learners.
   After the learner been oriented to your clinic, speak to the learner and allow him/her to introduce himself/herself. Find out how many rotations have been completed and what the learner's skill and experience level is. This will allow you to gear your learning experiences to each specific learner.
   
2. The first week - the most important aspect of the orientation is to clearly state your expectations for the rotation. These include both academic and professional expectations. Review the learner's program objectives and his/her personal educational objectives or learning contracts.  

During the first week it is important to closely observe the learner, regardless of their level of training. This will allow you to pick up any potential problems early and to assess how your learner is doing.   Ensure that all mandatory program dates or stat holidays are noted so there are no surprises later on.   Book the mid term and final evaluations early.

1. Rubenstein W, Talbot Y. Medical Teaching in Ambulatory Care 2 nd ed . 2003. Springer publishing USA
2. South New Hampshire Area Health Education Center Website: http://www.snhahec.org/preceptor_development/busy.htm