For the last ten years our Community Faculty has provided and continues to provide a quality learning environment for the next generation of health care professionals!
Pearls for Effective Precepting
Welcome the learner as part of your team of health care providers.
Plan the student’s schedule in advance. For example, review the next day’s schedule with your student, highlighting those patients from whom you feel the student will learn the most. The student can then plan for readings which anticipate the next day’s patient-related medical concerns.
Assign the student focused tasks. When you send the student in to see a patient, indicate a time limit, and ask the student to perform a specific task, such as gathering data, performing a specific part of the examination, or developing a differential diagnosis. This makes the teaching encounter more focused and efficient.
Learn efficient ways to give feedback to students. Try to find opportunities for a real exchange of information every day.
Have alternative learning activities available for intervals when patient flow is slow or patients decline student contact—e.g., a folder of articles, shared tasks with office staff or lab techs, or backup activities with another physician in the practice.
Introduce the student to your medical colleagues. Have him or her join you in attending a civic meeting or hospital staff meeting, or share a variety of community activities which demonstrate your non-clinical roles as a community physician.
Remote Access to the Moody Medical Library
The UTMB Moody Medical Library provides access to and assistance in using biomedical research resources. Such resources include bibliographic databases, full-text journals and textbooks. Due to licensing agreements, these resources are often available only to active community-based physicians who express interest in gaining domain access using the Office of Regional Medical Education as a sponsor. Once a preliminary “agreement” form is filled out, and the information is processed, preceptors are provided with details about how to login and guidance for use of the online reference materials. Additionally, UTMB library personnel offer free, hands-on classes covering database searching and the Internet. Should you be interested in gaining domain access and/or library training opportunities, the ORME would be happy to assist you with registration. The Mary Moody Library home page can be accessed at http://ar.utmb.edu/portals/mml_portal.asp. We encourage you to browse the page and see the range of resources available.
Frequently Asked Questions For Community Preceptors
What expectations should I have of a student in terms of clinical skills? How much responsibility are they ready for, and how much independence is appropriate?
We suggest you initially relate the student’s activities and independence to their level of training.
Beginner
The student is prepared to observe and discuss patients with you.
This is an appropriate starting point for most Year 1 students; allow students to progress to intermediate or advanced levels depending on practice environment and student ability. Students receive substantial clinical skills training in Year 1 and Year 2, so advancement beyond a shadowing role is generally expected, and should be offered whenever possible.
Intermediate
The student is prepared to conduct part or all of a patient encounter; you should strive to allow students to conduct encounters (perhaps while you are seeing another patient); then join the student, and listen to their summary, as you review and confirm details of the encounter.
This is an appropriate starting point for most Year 3 (clerkship) students; allow students to progress to the advanced level depending on practice environment and student ability.
Advanced
The student conducts independent patient encounters and presents a summary and conclusions to you; you return to the patient with the student to review/confirm.
This is an appropriate level of activity for most Year 4 students. Allowing students to complete patient notes is desirable if practical for your office environment.
Our Top Docs
Pecan Valley Area Health Education Center has been very blessed to have such dedicated and caring Community Faculty! For the last ten years our physicians have given their time and commitment to the next generation of health care providers.
1999 TopDoc Award
Dr. Jeannine Griffin (Pediatrics): Port Lavaca
Dr. Griffin, along with her husband, Dr. Paul Bunnell, began practicing at the Port Lavaca Clinic in 1986 directly after residency training. She is the only pediatrician in Port Lavaca and is very busy. Dr. Griffin and Dr.Bunnell have been precepting students for over 15 years. She is a very compassionate physician and takes a special interest in every patient. In addition, to being concerned about a child’s health she also finds time to advise her adolescent patients about college, and even helped one student fill out his scholarship forms for college. She is very involved with the community and has even opened up her home to rotating medical students!
2000 TopDoc Award
Dr. Paul Bunnell (Internal Medicine): Port Lavaca
Dr. Bunnell has precepted for over 15 years, since the inception of the MAC Program. His student evaluations often echo the same comments, such as, “Dr. Bunnell is an excellent teacher. He consistently took time to teach me about relevant pathophysiology, treatment options, and focus on skills where I was having difficulty. In addition, he is in a small town and interprets his own stress tests and EKGs, thus, by the time I was on Cardiology, I was not intimidated due to what Dr. Bunnell had taught me. But, the most important thing he taught me was to care about patients and not just for them.”
2001 TopDoc Award
Dr. Mark Stevens (Family Medicine): Victoria
This physician is a native Victorian and after completing his residency he came back to practice in Victoria. Since that time he has hired another UTMB graduate, Dr. Dante Garza. The patient mix is 80% adult and 20% children. He continually provided a rotation site for MAC students and usually took two students at a time. He is a natural born teacher, and wants the student to learn as much about people as they do about medicine. In addition, he tries to incorporate practice information such as billing, insurance concerns and malpractice laws into his teaching. He states the students need to be aware of what they're getting into. They need to be well-informed and business smart to run a family practice clinic. One previous MAC student stated: "This physician reminded me of Norman Rockwell. He was candid, down to earth, good hearted and good humored. Indeed, he serves as a model for all physicians. He strikes a balance between being a man of medicine and a man of family and recreation. He was so friendly and understanding."
2002 TopDoc Award
Dr. Luciano Sarabosing (Pediatrics): Victoria
Dr. Sarabosing is an enthusiastic and energetic preceptor. He almost always accepts a student each rotation, and most of the time, accepts two students! He has a very busy practice with about 42 patients per day. He spends ample time with each patient making sure they feel comfortable with his instructions. (Remember, most of them are newborns with new mommies!). Dr. Sarabosing has recently opened up his own practice: Caring Hands Pediatrics. He has the most updated and electronic medical equipment and the medical students are appreciative to experience the best technology has to offer!
2003 TopDoc Award
Dr. William Brendel (Pediatrics): Victoria
Dr. Brendel has participated in the MAC since the beginning and he is very committed to the education of UTMB students. He is both a UTMB graduate and a pediatric residency graduate. He is highly respected by his patients and his students, as well as the community. Last year he was named the Pediatric Preceptor of 2002 by the Dept. of Pediatrics at UTMB. He consistently gets glowing evaluations from the students who rotate with him. Student comments include: “excellent preceptor- A+ recommendation”. ”I have great respect for his physician and role model skills.” In his role as MAC preceptor, he consistently was one of the most active preceptors in terms of number of students taught and length of participation.
Teachers of Distinction (TOPDOC) Awards
UTMB School of Medicine faculty, staff, community-based course committees, and Area Health Education Center (AHEC) representatives made their nominations for 2004 Top Doc Award recipients from a pool of more than 250 active student preceptors.
The Top Doc Committee made final award recipient selections based on multiple criteria including exemplary student evaluations, time and commitment to community-based education, quality of the educational environment, and participation in faculty development and community service activities.
The Teacher of Distinction Awards began in 1999 as a means to recognize the contributions of our state-wide community-based physicians who have unselfishly given their time and effort for the education of the next generation of health care professionals. UTMB extended its deepest appreciation to these role models who, in providing quality and compassionate care to their patients, have made a lasting impact on the lives of their students. This year’s awards luncheon was held on Saturday, October 30th in the Tremont House Hotel in conjunction with the university’s Founder’s Day Award Ceremony. Twelve community-based physicians from all over the state of Texas were honored on this day with their proud families and university associates.
New Recognition Awards for Community Preceptors
The Office of Regional Medical Education has developed two new recognition categories for community preceptors. In order to acknowledge the sustained commitment of our preceptors, we offer the opportunity for physicians to apply for a Community Preceptor Recognition designation, and a Master Preceptor designation. General criteria for both designations include possession of a full, unrestricted license to practice medicine in Texas, recent, repeated participation as a preceptor, admirable evaluations from all students precepted, and completion of medical education-based CME hours.
Those who meet the specific criteria for the recognition categories will receive credit for free UTMB-sponsored CME of the recipient’s choice, and other recognitions For application forms and additional information regarding the conditions and process for requesting recognition, please visit our website at http://meded.utmb.edu/orme, or call Pam Hentschel at 409-772-6905.
Thank you for your continued support of our students' education.
For the last ten years our Community Faculty has provided and continues to provide a quality learning environment for the next generation of health care professionals!
1999 TopDoc Award 
2000 TopDoc Award
2001 TopDoc Award
2002 TopDoc Award
2003 TopDoc Award