Professional Mentorship and Instruction in Your Local Community.
PRECEPTORS
The WPPD program's Clinical Practice Assessment (CPA) requirements are generally accomplished in your workplace or in your local community under the guidance of a preceptor—another pharmacist who can share practical experience and provide personal training, mentorship, and supervision. To gain credit for CPAs, each WPPD student must identify a preceptor who is qualified to approve and sign off on CPAs as they are performed successfully. A majority of these CPAs require the signature of approval from a qualified Pharm.D.
Your preceptor experience will play an important role in your learning process and often results in a lasting and mutually rewarding professional relationship. In fact, some WPPD alumni have gone on to serve the pharmacy community by becoming preceptors themselves.
Some WPPD students have had preceptors who are supervisors or coworkers with the same employer. Many others have leveraged community contacts within the field of pharmacy to forge a preceptor relationship with an acquaintance, or a friend of a friend. Regardless of where you live and practice, you will not be required to identify a preceptor until late in your first year of study or early in your second year of study. In other words, it is not necessary to choose a preceptor before gaining admission to and beginning the WPPD program.
Many of our most successful students have found it extremely valuable to complete the initial Foundations course and attend the Practice Experience Institute in Florida during their first year of study, before finding a local preceptor. Having a course or two under your belt will help you better understand the expectations of the program and will help you more effectively explain the type of support you will need from your preceptor later in the program.
So unless you have a preceptor in mind already, we recommend you experience the program first-hand before choosing a preceptor. It will give you more confidence in choosing the right preceptor, and make the preceptor experience that much more rewarding.
Contact one of our expert WPPD Enrollment Advisors or call 1-800-431-6687 to discuss your unique situation. We will help you build a customized strategy for completing your clinical requirements to help make your goal of earning a world-class Pharm.D. a reality.
