Precepting physician assistant students: CME credit and rotations

How the CME credit works

AAPA awards Category 1 CME for clinical teaching through PA programs. Programs accredited by ARC-PA apply to AAPA each year for approval to award it, and then credit their eligible preceptors.

• The rate: 2 AAPA Category 1 CME credits per student for each week of clinical teaching, where a week means 40 hours of precepting.
• Who: preceptors who are practicing PAs, fully licensed at the clinical site.
• How: the PA program that schedules your student awards the credit.
• Proof: programs usually ask for a completed preceptor evaluation form, which can include your attestation of weeks and students.
• Annual maximum: AAPA sets a yearly cap for precepting credit, listed on its preceptor CME page.

How it fits NCCPA certification

NCCPA certification maintenance runs on a ten-year process made of five two-year cycles. In each cycle you earn and log at least 100 CME credits, including at least 50 Category 1 credits; the other 50 may be Category 1, Category 2 or a mix. Precepting credit earned in the cycle counts toward the total, and PA Portfolio can transfer AAPA Category 1 credits to NCCPA.

What PA rotations look like

PA students complete supervised clinical practice experiences across core areas of medicine in their clinical year, usually as a series of rotations of a few weeks each with different preceptors. A typical set includes family medicine, internal medicine, emergency medicine, pediatrics, women’s health, behavioral health and general surgery, plus elective rotations.

Each rotation has its own objectives and evaluation, so a preceptor in one area teaches what that rotation asks for: a family medicine preceptor focuses on primary care across the lifespan, a surgery preceptor on pre-operative, operative and post-operative care.

Who precepts PA students

PAs and physicians precept most PA rotations, and many programs also welcome nurse practitioners and other licensed clinicians for part of the year. Each program sets its own preceptor guidelines. Only practicing PAs are eligible for the AAPA Category 1 credit, and physicians and NPs who precept PA students earn the satisfaction of training future colleagues and, with Preceptorate, paid hours.

A day with a PA student

PA students arrive in their clinical year with a strong didactic foundation, ready to take histories, examine patients and present. A common rhythm: the student sees the patient first, presents to you, and you see the patient together. As the rotation goes on, they draft orders and notes for your review and lead more of each visit.

The One-Minute Preceptor and SNAPPS teaching models work especially well with PA students, who are trained to present cases in a structured way.

Documentation with PA students

Medicare’s 2020 physician fee schedule rule includes PA students: the clinician who furnishes and bills the service can review and verify a student’s note by signing and dating it, rather than re-documenting it. Commercial plans set their own rules, which your billing team knows.

Precepting PA students with Preceptorate

PA rotations are in person, so Preceptorate matches PA preceptors in person, by specialty and location. You see the rotation dates, hours and pay before you accept, our team prepares the affiliation agreement and the program’s forms, and you are paid per block of hours at the rate you set.

Preparing for a PA student

A little preparation makes the first day of a PA rotation smooth:

• Read the rotation’s objectives and evaluation form from the program.
• Arrange records access or decide how the student will document.
• Pick the visit types that match the rotation: chronic care for internal medicine, acute complaints for emergency medicine, well-child visits for pediatrics.
• Agree the schedule, including any call or weekend expectations the rotation includes.

End-of-rotation evaluations

PA programs ask preceptors to evaluate each student at the end of the rotation, against the rotation’s objectives: medical knowledge, history and examination, clinical reasoning, procedures where relevant, communication and professionalism. Specific examples and one clear next step make the evaluation useful for the student’s next rotation. With Preceptorate, our team sends you the form when it is due.

Who PA students are

PA students are in a graduate program that runs a didactic year in the classroom followed by a clinical year of rotations. By the time they reach you, they have studied the core medical sciences, pharmacology and clinical medicine, and practiced examination skills. Your rotation is where that knowledge meets real patients.

Questions