Perspectives Winter/Spring-2017

COLLEGE OF HEALTH CARE SCIENCES • 27 Being an effective clinical preceptor is mostly about keeping a balance between all the elements involved. Clinical preceptors are still educators, but first and foremost, they have a responsibility to the patient’s care and safety. An anesthesiologist assistant professor has that same responsibility to the patient, with an added responsibility to the AA student, making the balancing act a bit more challenging. Everything the students are responsible to learn and know in the classroom and lab must carry over to the clinical aspects of anesthesia. Many students have a great wealth of knowledge, but have trouble transition- ing that knowledge into action in the operating room. The professors know the students they work with in the operating room, which is an advantage over a clinical preceptor who does not work in the program. The AA clinical preceptors are obligated to balance between teaching and providing quality health care to the patients. As preceptors, there is a delicate balance between giving the student enough autonomy to learn and develop, while still being a responsible practitioner. Educating students in the classroom and operating room, while also being responsible for the patients, includes negative and/or positive feedback as well. Eval- uating a student’s performance is a very important part of the job. All behaviors and decisions made by the stu- dent in the operating room need to be discussed face- to-face at the end of the day or at the end of the case. Additionally, the preceptor must complete a formal evaluation. Filling out this evaluation truthfully is another responsibility of the clinical preceptor. An AA professor identifies the ramifications of evaluations not being filled out with truth in mind. Many preceptors want to spare the feelings of the student, which will only hurt the student in the end. By writing a truthful evaluation, the program can work with the students to get them focused on the areas they need to work on to be successful. The anesthetic decisions made by the clinical preceptor during the case should also be conveyed to the students so they understand the rationale for these practices. These evaluations and conversations will help tie to- gether classroom, lab, and textbook skills with real- world operating room skills. Working as a CAA in a teaching institution opens eyes to how much knowledge one lacks given the variety of procedures and illnesses that might arise. Education helps keep people humble when practicing medicine, because they learn something new during every single case. Clinical preceptors and professors need to demonstrate a desire to educate and share knowledge and be enthusiastic, respectful, fair-minded, and willing to work with a diverse group of people. Preceptors also need to have the ability to remember what it was like to be a student. Being a clinical pre- ceptor for AA students gives preceptors the chance to influence someone’s future practice as an anesth- esiologist assistant, which is an amazing opportunity for the student and for the profession. n Lori Desorbo, left, assistant professor, and Julia Chung, anesthesiologist assistant student, prepare to perform a craniotomy.