I will keep this short as possible.

I am in my last semester for my AGNP program. I am with a physician who is 65-75 yrs old. During my rotations the doctor enjoys talking about so many off topic nonclinical subjects its draining to me. His staff, residents and other NP students warned me about this. Many people just redirect him but they don't have to be around him for 8 hours. For us that do we suffer.

I just try to learn as much as I can and make the most out of my learning experience but the excessive talking is affecting my motivation and attitude about attending the site. One example...

I told the doctor I needed to leave by a certain time which by the way he agreed to do partial days. I work full time. Some days I have class and many days I need to get home and get things done to properly manage my time for studying, sleep, homework, school projects, and household chores. I decided this was my last patient to leave on time and I waited 30 minutes to present to him as he talked about politics and how bad piracy (in the seas) is the worse its ever been. I ended up leaving 45 minutes later than I wanted.

During clinical days, I prefer to discuss things like assessment findings, differential diagnosis, disease processes, assessments and plans. For the most part we talk about these things but I feel I have to sit there in between the important stuff and be forced to listen to the election/politics, religion, history (War with Britain, civil wars, rise of the Roman empire), cooking, government conspiracies, just to name a few.

I am looking at my Preceptor evaluation form and its asking me for feedback. I would like to say something but not come off mean, disrespectful or unappreciative but I have like a 85 hrs left and I dread going because of this. It is affecting my learning experience and I personally thing I could be having more beneficial medical related discussion that will help me advance.

1. Is there anyway I could tell him without being offensive or just suck up the last 85 hours and get it over with?

2. How can I provide constructive feedback or should I just not mention it?

You are there as his guest. If you were staying in someones home or being hosted for dinner would you tell the host they talk to much for your preference?

You can either keep trying to redirect him and make the most of your experience or convey your concerns to your program (if you think it truly impacting your education/preparation) and ask to be reassigned.

I think there are many out there that would say if you big complaint is being 45 minutes late then you are due for some harsh realizations in your transition to practice.

Honestly, I would think this is where you can have the opportunity to hone your people skills and re-direct him. We all have patients that talk on & on and we have to find the balance to re-direct the conversation. At least he's actually talking. I've heard from friends who have preceptors that don't have very nice demeanors and they barely speak. Yes, it's frustrating that he talks too much about non-educational topics. However, use this as a chance to start asking him questions that get back to the topic. For example, he's going on & on about the civil war or politics or the weather in China. You can say "that sounds interesting, thanks for your insight. On a different note, I do have a question about the lab values/xray results/diagnosis/etc for Mrs. X. Here's my question..."

That stuff annoys me too. So disrespectful of my time. But,I would go with the wise words of the previous posters. Your goal is to get a positive evaluation from this guy. It seems arrogant that he is not putting your learning needs first. But it seems you need a strategy to redirect him and get what you need from the experience. Figure out how to make it interesting for yourself. Maybe Google strategies about how to deal with overly talkative people and try a new one each week. It is an art to do this without alienating him. Best wishes!