Purpose

A clinical instructor is an experienced practitioner who provides supervision during clinical practice and facilitates the application of theory to practice for students and staff learners. They assist the learner by setting expectations, providing effective feedback about their performance, and providing appropriate opportunities to meet their learning objectives.

Des Moines University supports healthcare providers who choose to actively participate in the education of our students by offering excellent clinical training opportunities. Clinical instructors not only transmit skills but are mentors who convey the core values important to Des Moines University: accountability, collaboration, honesty, inclusiveness, and wellness. 

Clinical instructors do what no textbook or classroom can accomplish. As a result, the students benefit from the community-based experience, while preceptors benefit from integrating new ideas and techniques into their practices currently taught in academic health sciences institutions. Join us for a series of educational opportunities which provide precepting pearls to aid in shaping the next generation of clinicians.

Description

This session will discuss strategies to effectively and efficiently incorporate students into your daily practice. The speakers will highlight methods of taking the clinical experience “next level” by setting high academic expectations for students.

Key Topics

• Resources
• Assignments
• Mid-rotation and final evaluation
• Practice efficiency
• Assessing student knowledge
• Lifelong learning

Learning Objectives

1. Identify new time-saving methods for onboarding students.
2. Explore teaching strategies to help refine students’ problem-solving skills.
3. Discuss the importance of empowering students to ask questions to become lifelong learners.

Speakers

Dallas Sanders, PA-C, was born and raised in Buffalo, Wyoming. He attended undergraduate school at Carroll College. He attended Physician Assistant school at Touro College, Manhattan Campus, in New York City, where he won the Maimonedes Award for highest academic standing for the academic and clinical year. He has worked in Internal Medicine in Des Moines, Iowa, with a focus on diabetes for his entire 17-year career, starting in private practice in 2004 at Diagnostic and Internal Medicine and the Diabetes Center and then transitioning to MercyOne in 2011. He has been a certified diabetes educator since 2008 and is the Director of MercyOne Diabetes Center at MercyOne Central Campus. He is an adjunct faculty member at Des Moines University and a long-time preceptor for PA students. The Iowa Physician Assistant Society awarded him the Physician Assistant of the Year in 2017. Full biography.

Laura Cunningham, MSPAS, PA-C, graduated from Des Moines University Medicine and Health Sciences in 2015, earning her Physician Assistant degree. She has worked in primary care for six years, focusing on her patients' mental and physical health. Laura has over ten years of experience in Mental Health.  Laura currently works at Focused Life Clinic. Full biography.