Rural PREP Grand Rounds: Why Do I Teach in Rural Practice? A day in the life of a rural preceptor

Abstract

Many students and residents may consider teaching as a part of their rural practice. Few, however, recognize how important it is to their own well-being and to
student learning. Precepting provides one-on-one instruction and mentorship from
passionate and knowledgeable rural physicians who usually are embedded in the
close-knit community they serve. In their longitudinal relationships with students, rural
teachers often allow more independence than is available in other settings. Becoming
a rural preceptor or learning from a preceptor in a rural area is a win-win situation.
Preceptors and students need each other.

Learning Objectives

After this presentation, participants will be able to:

1. List key skills and concepts necessary to be a clinical teacher.
2. Describe essential ingredients for professional well-being that precepting meets.
3. Envision themselves as an excellent clinical teacher in a rural setting.

Pre-Session Review Content

Prior to the March Grand Rounds event, participants should:

1. Read Ostrander’s (2016) Transformations: Reflections on a Longitudinal, Relationship- Centered Medical School Curriculum. Fam Med 48(7):567-8. https://www.stfm.org/familymedicine/vol48issue7/Ostrander567
2. Read Minor, Huffman, Lewis, Kost, & Prunske’s (2019) Community Preceptor Perspectives on Recruitment and Retention: The CoPPRR Study. Fam Med 51(5):389-398. https://journals.stfm.org/familymedicine/2019/may/minor-2018-0358/

Pre-Session Activity

Presenter

Robert Ostrander, MD
Rural Medical Scholars Program Director and Preceptor, SUNY Upstate Medical University

Biography

Dr. Ostrander grew up in Clifton Springs and graduated from Union College in Schenectady, NY with a double major in German literature and Biology. He received his M.D. from SUNY Upstate. He completed a 3-year Family Practice Residency at St. Joseph’s Hospital in Syracuse. Dr. Ostrander has lived in Rushville, NY since starting his practice, Valley View Family Practice in 1986. He is actively involved with the New York State Academy of Family Physicians, and is the 2016-2017 President of that
organization.

Dr. Ostrander has been a preceptor in the RMED program since 1995. He resides in Rushville, NY with his wife Maribeth. They have four adult children. Their son Geoffrey Ostrander, M.D., who joined the practice in 2015, was a former RMED student and now serves as a community preceptor.