Reflections from Past Participants
I’ve done a lot of reading, watched a lot of videos, and have even attended a conference focused on HIV. But having an opportunity for one-on-one interaction in a small group was the best type of learning. We came from different backgrounds – physician, NP, pharmacist—and it really showed me that I am part of a team and I can do more working with others. I’ve also developed a great relationship with my preceptor. I had a patient that I had a question about, and I was able to reach out to her for guidance even after the clinical preceptorship.
—Physician
I really learned a lot from the other participants. I was the only pharmacist in the group and I got to hear about the experiences of other types of providers. We got to share our different experiences. Our clinics were in different locations around the country, and we shared about that as well as our different patient populations. It was helpful to see both the similarities and differences.
—Pharmacist
I really enjoyed the experience. I liked the informal case discussions. We had a small group and we had time to talk about challenges in our own clinics. I also liked the long-term connections I’ve developed. Since participating, I’ve gone back to them to ask what they would do in different scenarios.
—Nurse Practitioner
The preceptorship was valuable to me as a non-ID-trained physician. Today we see more and more that primary care clinicians are being encouraged to provide HIV as well as primary care to their HIV-infected clients. An opportunity like this preceptorship offers primary care clinicians a valuable experience and insights into how we can effectively provide both primary care and HIV-management for our patients.
—Physician
When I participated in the preceptorship I was the main HIV clinician at a FQHC with a low volume of HIV cases. The preceptorship confirmed for me that HIV primary care is a priority for me in my career and reinvigorated my passion for HIV care. As someone who got broad training it supplemented my professional development and engaged me in the latest science that is coming out on HIV care. It was also helpful in giving me a broader perspective of challenges I faced in my own clinic.
—Physician
My preceptor has so much knowledge. For me specifically, even though my prior training was in the same city, the setting, patient population and clinical practice patterns were different. This experience therefore gave me greater insight into how different clinicians practice.
—Pharmacist
The preceptorship was a very valuable experience. It was nice to compare my practices to those of a leader in HIV care.
—Nurse Practitioner
It was really helpful to interact with clinicians from other areas of the country who are focused on the same goal and mission. It was extremely motivating to take that energy and bring it back to my community and where I’m working.
—Pharmacist
I felt like I was in a great learning environment during the preceptorship. I loved being in a group with providers from multiple professions and learning from them as well as the preceptor. We were all trained differently. We come at things from different perspectives. The small groups gave us a chance to learn from each other. However, I also appreciated the didactic portions of the program. In nurse practitioner training there is no ID specialization, so I appreciated the advanced didactics on the medication classes.
—Nurse Practitioner
I really enjoyed being exposed to both inpatient and outpatient management. There’s just no replacement for one-on-one time with an experienced provider where you can ask questions about clinical care. And now I have a broader network of experienced providers I can continue to reach out to and ask questions of. I also saw the multidisciplinary services that the site had available, and I saw the importance of advocating for more of these services in my clinic.
—Physician