Departments of Pharmacy

Practicing pharmacists who serve as preceptors play a critical role in educating and training students in the real-world pharmacy practice environment. These experiences are essential to ensuring that students become competent and caring professionals. As a preceptor, you will have the opportunity to demonstrate pharmacy skills and tasks in your area while supervising student activities, evaluating performance and providing meaningful feedback.  

The benefits of being an experiential preceptor are numerous and include:  

• It’s rewarding both personally and professionally. Current preceptors enjoy giving back to the profession. We routinely hear comments like, “Pharmacists did it for me when I was in school so now it’s my turn.” Others have stated that having students “keeps me on my toes and helps me keep up with changes in medications and practice.” 
• Preceptors play a crucial role in the development of future pharmacy practitioners and the profession. High quality preceptors and educational experiences are vital in training students to provide excellent patient care, which will lead to highly skilled pharmacists continually improving practice. 
• Students can contribute “value-added” benefits to the practice. Students not only contribute to the prescription/medication order processing and medication distribution, but also provide and assist with patient counseling and education, health screenings, medication therapy management, drug utilization review and new medication presentations. 
• Preceptors can also learn from pharmacy students by having students share information about current/new medications and novel approaches to treatment modalities and/or practice. 
• Preceptors can market their practice site as an appealing future place of employment for graduates. Many graduates select residencies and jobs in hospitals, pharmacies and clinics where they participated in an IPPE and/or APPE. 
• Free online access to Creighton University Health Sciences Library. A few of the resources offered include electronic full journal access (e.g., Pharmacotherapy, Am J Health Syst Pharm, JAMA, etc.), electronic drug information references (e.g., Clinical Pharmacology, Facts & Comparison), electronic textbooks (e.g., Pharmacotherapy: A Pathophysiologic Approach, Harrison’s Online, etc.), Medline and Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database.
  
  Preceptors who want access to Library Resources need to contact Mary Kay Waltz at mkwaltz@creighton.edu. 
   
• Opportunities for continuing professional development as a practitioner and educator. Preceptors have access to free CE programs (online and webinar) and various teaching resources (e.g., journal club, preceptor toolbox) through Pharmacist’s Letter Preceptor Training and Resource Network. Preceptors also have access to discounted CE from Creighton’s pharmacy program. 
• Access to Creighton’s Center for Drug Information. Preceptors can submit questions to the DI Center either online or by calling the toll-free number. 
• Contributed-service faculty appointment (clinical instructor rank) in Creighton’s School of Pharmacy and Health Professions. Preceptors who routinely take Creighton students are eligible for this appointment.

Interested in becoming a preceptor? 

Please contact Kathy Stuhr at kathystuhr@creighton.edu or fill out a request form.