Do you mentor/precept med students and residents?

Advanced Practice Columnist / Guide · Jul 4, 2019

We sometimes have medical students rotate through an ICU team that only consist of an attending and an NP. In those cases, the medical student do follow the NP around and the NP acts as a resource but ultimately that student's learning is the responsibility of the attending. So, while the medical students follow us around, the attending typically has teaching sessions prepared for that student separate from the clinical work that they do.

Some of the ICU teams also consist of an intern (1st year resident), an NP, and an attending. It is a similar set-up in that situation as if we have a medical student. The intern is basically a new grad physician who needs a lot of hand-holding and guidance and we do fill that role for the attending who has other commitments during the day. The NP's are the consistent presence and knows a lot more of the practical ICU stuff (lines, ordering, etc.).

However, some of our ICU teams are large and consist of residents (PGY2-4), an ICU fellow, an NP, and an attending. The teaching role is usually done by the fellow in those situations except for when we have an NP student as well so in that case, the NP's are directly responsible for that NP student. That said, it's a multidisciplinary team (including the Pharmacist) and we tend to promote an environment where everyone learns from what each one has to offer.

Medical student and intern/resident notes are co-signed by attendings only.

Neuro Guy NP, DNP, PhD, APRN · Jul 5, 2019

I'm a professor at a local medical school. I lecture there and also have students assigned to me in the Neuro ICU as part of their neurology rotation. Because I hold an academic appointment to the medical school, the student(s) assigned to me are my official responsibility, including any evaluation. The attending may have his or her own student as well, who as another poster said is often in turn assigned to follow a fellow or resident on the stroke service or one of the other services. Any NP not holding an appointment to the medical school would be in a situation similar to that described by the poster above.

So yes, occasionally NPs may have medical students.

staphylococci, NP · Jul 7, 2019

I am clinical faculty at a local medical school and precept medical students (M3s) for their pediatric clerkship. They have didactics taught by another professor on Friday, so I am responsible for their clinical experience and helping them apply what they learn in class to actual practice. At the end of the clerkship, I am the one who completes their evaluation.

babyNP., APRN · Jul 8, 2019

Yes, we teach family medicine residents. They do a few weeks in the NICU, in addition to their newborn rotation. But they are just here for the morning and do regular family practice clinic hours in the afternoon.