Grow your leadership skills in the medical field by becoming a preceptor at Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine (KansasCOM). Our preceptor program allows you to oversee medical students’ training and continue your education through hands-on teaching. 

What is a Preceptor?

A preceptor is a teacher or instructor. Preceptors in healthcare are experienced and licensed medical professionals who supervise students during clinical rotations. These medical supervisors provide structure support in transitional periods in their careers, helping medical students enter the workforce for the first time or after an extended leave of absence. 

The preceptor program at Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine partners with preceptors who align with our mission to achieve optimal patient health through effective, empathic, and innovative care. KansasCOM preceptors can play a direct role in educating and shaping medical students’ minds, creating solid medical leaders who will positively impact their field of practice. 

What are the Qualities of a Good Doctor

To become a strong leader in the medical field, doctors need to master various soft skills. These skills allow doctors to effectively transfer competencies to fellow medical personnel and engage with the patient. With these soft skills for doctors, quality healthcare could be protected and ensured it is provided at the highest potential. 

The physician and surgeon job outlook is projected to grow by 4 percent, with roughly 23,600 openings annually from 2023 to 2033. In conjunction with the current physician shortage, an estimated 37,000 to 124,000 drop in primary and specialty care physicians by 2034 emphasizes the need for more quality doctors. That is why we enforce these skills as part of our osteopathic medical training, providing experienced preceptors who embody these soft skills when training our medical students. By doing so, our preceptors will enhance their leadership skills.

Here are the must-have characteristics of a good doctor:

    • Communication Skills: Doctors must master interpersonal communication, fully understand what the patient is saying, process and factor their emotions into medical discoveries, and share medical insights and reports with other medical professionals. In a preceptor program, communication can help transfer medical knowledge from an experienced or future doctor, giving osteopathic students first-hand experience with medical procedures and processes.
  • Empathy and compassion: The ability to understand the feelings of the patient and any accompanying family demonstrates the doctor’s investments in their personal care, treating them like a person, not a statistic. This allows patients to connect more with their doctors and build trust.
  • Professionalism: The effort to maintain clean hygiene, a presentable appearance, and a level of respect towards other medical personnel and patients. Presenting humility, integrity, and consideration for those around you. 
  • Work Ethic: A good doctor should apply a strong level of dedication and passion to your work. Sometimes, it is working hard despite exhaustion, studying recent studies to provide top-notch medical care, or working tirelessly to provide the best care possible, including working with an entire medical team.
  • Confidence: Confidence helps establish trust, a positive belief, and self-assurance in one’s ability to provide quality care for the patient. 
  • Leadership: It is crucial to advocate for patients, collaborate with other medical professionals, and demonstrate respect, empathy, and work ethic to help build trust with peers. Doctors can lead by training medical students and continuing their education, working towards a better medical experience for doctors, students, and patients. These qualities of a good doctor naturally foster a sense of leadership within the medical team. 

Why Doctors Need Leadership Training

Although doctors may acquire the soft skills previously mentioned, medical leadership training will help reshape and hone those skills to the optimal level. This will differentiate the doctor from other doctors, improve work relationships, and provide elevated patient care. 

Preceptors are essential in creating a positive learning environment for our osteopathic students. A great preceptor will effectively communicate the expectations and goals of the medical students’ clinical experiences and adapt their teaching method to the individual students’ learning needs. These medical instructors should share our medical student’s education with the medical team, including staff, faculty, and medical partners. As the osteopathic student’s education grows, a good preceptor should increase their responsibilities to continue their education. All of these 

Active osteopathic doctors can share their medical knowledge and provide hands-on experience by overseeing KansasCOM medical students in their clinical training. 

Leadership Opportunities for Preceptors at KansasCOM

Kansas College of Osteopathic Medicine provides a multi-beneficial preceptor program, helping active medical doctors gain leadership experience by overseeing the hands-on experience of up-and-coming osteopathic doctors.  Our preceptors will gain access to our continuing education programs, membership to the Kansas Education and Research Network, a practice-based research network, and access to our online medical library. 

Becoming a KansasCOM preceptor allows current doctors to utilize learning opportunities to practice their skills while training medical students on patient care duties like preliminary history taking, charting, and rounding.