October 2024: Enrich Answers to Clinical Questions using EBM Resources September 2024: Make Your Formative Feedback Collaborative August 2024: Enhance Professional Identity Formation in a Clinical Setting May 2024: Empower Learners With a Growth Mindset April 2024: Self-Reflection in Educators November 2023: Get Inspired with 17 Patient-Encounter Scenarios October 2023: How to Teach Evidence-Based Medicine September 2023: Feedback Levels Help Identify Your Feedback Goals August 2023: How to Decide Where to Precept June 2023: Use Self-Reflection to Identify Barriers to Well-Being  May 2023: Adding to a Learner's Skill Set April 2023: Help Learners Manage Conflict in the Clinical Setting March 2023: Managing Clinical Workflow with Your Learner February 2023: Model Receptiveness to Feedback for Your Learners November 2022: Show Learners How to Cultivate Professional Relationships July 2022: Identify Types of Learner Difficulty June 2022: Develop Your Learners' Teaching Skills May 2022: Set Shared Learning Objectives with Every Learner April 2022: Three Tips to Effectively Teach in the Presence of Patients March 2022: The Benefits of Direct Observation February 2022: Model Professional Behavior for Your Learners October 2021: A Collaborative Feedback Environment September 2021: Documenting Learner Performance August 2021: Help Learners Self-Reflect July 2021: Prepare Your Staff to Educate New Learners June 2021: Continuously Enhance Your Clinical Teaching Skills May 2021: Integrate Learners Into Your Team April 2021: Help Learners Develop Their Professional Identity March 2021: Personalized Teaching Skills Assessment Tool on Teaching February 2021: Communicating About a Learner in Difficulty November 2020: Look for Opportunities for Direct Observation October 2020: Virtual Professional Boundaries September 2020: Ensure Your Learners Recognize Feedback June 2020: Role Modeling Inclusivity May 2020: Tips for Welcoming Students Back to Clinic in a Pandemic World April 2020: Precepting in the Time of COVID-19 March 2020: Teaching the Student With Little Clinical Experience February 2020: Your Learners' Well-Being December 2019: Save Time By Frequently Assessing Learners November 2019: Role Model Feedback for Your Learners October 2019: A Growth Mindset Benefits Everybody September 2019: Prep for an Efficient Day Teaching in the Clinic August 2019: Recognize Learners in Difficulty with the HEART Acronym July 2019: Coach Students in Conflict Management June 2019: Engage Your Students with Goal-Directed Precepting May 2019: Find New Content Quickly March 2019: A Model for Structuring Your Student’s Clerkship February 2019: Prepare Your Patients to Have Students Involved in the Visit January 2019: Bringing New Learners Into Your Clinic November 2018: Write Learner Evaluations More Quickly October 2018: Using the Three Levels of Feedback When Precepting September 2018: Applying Adult Learning Principles to Your Precepting August 2018: Setting Expectations with Your Students July 2018: Providing Preventive Patient Care with Your Students June 2018: Implementing the Revised Student Documentation Guidelines from CMS May 2018: Prepare Your Patients to Have Students Involved in Their Visit April 2018: How Students Can Improve the Quality of Care in Your Practice March 2018: Increase the Efficiency of Your Precepting Using the Five-Step Microskills Model December 2017: Earn Up to 40 CME Credits November 2017: Empower Your Staff to Help Teach Your Students October 2017: Avoid Common Feedback Traps September 2017: Use Direct Observation for Easier Student Evaluations August 2017: Your Medical Students Can Improve Patient Care July 2017: Optimize Your Students' Use of Electronic Health Records June 2017: Structure Your Student's Clerkship Experience May 2017: Help Learners Succeed at Your Clinic April 2017: Using the RIME Model to Assess Your Learners March 2017: Writing Meaningful Comments on Your Learner Evaluations February 2017: Turn Brief Conversations Into Teaching Opportunities January 2017: Earn Up to 40 CME Credits December 2016: Varying Your Teaching Styles November 2016: Supporting Learners in Difficulty October 2016: Resources for Teaching Evidence-Based Medicine September 2016: Providing Better Feedback to Your Students August 2016: Getting to Know New Students at Your Practice July 2016: Teaching the Skill of Self-Assessment June 2016: Teaching About Patients With Complexity May 2016: Complete List of New TeachingPhysician.org Pages March 2016: The New Site Has Launched! February 2016: Two New Pages about Teaching in the Presence of Patients January 2016: New Interview About Teaching in the Presence of Patients

How to Decide Where to Precept

You have a lot of decisions to make as a preceptor: which patients will your learner see? What do you wish to teach your learner today? How will you present the information you wish to teach your learner? Just as important is where you decide to precept: will you precept in the presence of the patient, or will you do it privately?

Some things to think about: precepting in private will allow a learner to speculate freely regarding a patient’s presentation, while avoiding much of the awkwardness that may arise between the learner and the patient. However, precepting in the presence of the patient will help the learner shed the awkwardness of the early learner. Consider, too, that precepting in the hallway or in an office often occurs after the patient has been seen, while teaching in the patient’s presence can sometimes elicit more information from the patient as you discuss their case out loud with your learner. Regardless of the perceived advantages of precepting in private versus in the presence of the patient, always select the option that best meets the needs of the patient and the learner. 

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More Pages From the Teaching Strategies Section

You can learn more about this topic by visiting the following pages from the Teaching Strategies section: