 |
IPC Fellows and Preceptors attend a
networking event during
last year's retreat
|
The Institute for Primary Care Education and
Practice (IPC) wrapped up a successful fall semester in November, including the
addition of a fourth cohort of IPC fellows. This year, the IPC welcomed 28 new
student fellows, including its first cohort of students from the South Carolina
College of Pharmacy at MUSC.
To further students’ interest in primary
care, the South Carolina AHEC in 2012 worked with leaders on the USC and MUSC
academic campuses to establish the IPC. Initially funded for three years through
The Duke Endowment, an IPC core team of faculty from the South Carolina AHEC
and the universities identified medical, advanced practice nursing (APN), and physician
assistant (PA) students early in their training who expressed interest in
primary care careers. In 2015, the academic programs began funding for the IPC. With the addition of the pharmacy students,
the IPC now consists of 100 student fellows from six colleges and two universities.
Fellows from across the state connect by
video for monthly seminars, which are recorded and made available on the South
Carolina AHEC website. The IPC hosts an annual retreat with fellows, preceptors
and faculty each spring featuring distinguished guest speakers and outstanding
networking experiences for the fellows. Fellows from MUSC also can participate
in two elective patient-centered courses that focus on the delivery of
interprofessional primary care in a community setting.
In 2015, an exit survey was sent to 27 graduating fellows to determine their
level of involvement in IPC activities, the value of the IPC and the type of
clinical practice they have entered upon graduation. One hundred percent of the
responding graduating fellows (N=20) found the IPC to be of value and all plan
to begin practice in primary care upon graduation. Fifty percent of the
students indicated they intended to practice in family medicine, 20
percent in pediatrics, five percent in internal medicine and the remainder
chose more than one of these primary care specialties.
Identification and support of practices and
preceptors incorporating core competencies of interprofessional collaborative practice are vital to providing outstanding clinical experiences,
particularly in rural and underserved communities. Currently, there is an
interprofessional group of 34 primary care preceptors from family medicine,
pediatrics and internal medicine who have joined the IPC. Excellent ambulatory
care pharmacy preceptors are currently being recruited.
Want to become an
IPC preceptor? Contact randals@musc.edu for more information. For more
information on the Institute for Primary Care Education and Practice or to view any of the recorded seminars, visit scahec.net/primarycare.