After a hiatus caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the BC-CfE’s award-winning Intensive Preceptorship program has resumed. On May 9th, a small cohort of physicians and nurse practitioners began the first offering of the program since 2019, which will see them gain knowledge, skills, and confidence in providing care to people living with HIV (PLWH).
Participating clinicians either self-identify or are recommended by their employer to attend the course. As a provincial program, the BC-CfE serves every health authority in BC, which means the attendees could be coming from anywhere in the province to learn and expand the scope of their primary care practice. The program has even had learners from outside BC attend, coming from as far away as Manitoba and Saskatchewan.
The Intensive Preceptorship program consists of 3 modules:
- Module 1: HIV Treatment and Management online course. This course is self-paced, takes about 10 hours to complete, and establishes the foundations of HIV/AIDS care.
- Module 2: clinical preceptorship. This section of the program takes place over five days on-site at a primary care clinic that with expertise in HIV like the John Ruedy Clinic and another associated clinic. Being on-site allows the trainees an opportunity for enhanced learning of HIV clinical skills and helps them identify experts and resources for future learning and support. During the lunch hours, the trainees receive focused training from preceptors and engage in discussion.
- Module 3: Mentorship. In this module the learners select topics to explore in further depth and have small group case discussions with mentors. There is also an option for one-on-one mentor contact for timely guidance on cases.
Prior to beginning the program, the learner is asked to reflect on their practice and their needs and develop an individual learning plan; this is then reviewed in a one-on-one virtual meeting with Preceptorship Director Dr. Val Montessori, the Director of the BC-CfE’s Clinical Education and Training Program. By speaking directly with Dr. Montessori, the trainees can individualize their learning plan to ensure a good fit with the program and to maximize their learning.
“I’ve been so impressed by the calibre of the trainees and with their commitment to their patients,” said Dr. Montessori, when asked about the learners.
Upon successful completion of the program, trainees are able to assess PLWH and develop a primary care plan, initiate and monitor antiretroviral therapy, (including toxicities and treatment failure and drug-to-drug interactions), identify the main HIV-related co-morbidities and their impact on the care management of PLWH, and identify psychosocial issues in PLWH to provide them resources for community support.
Professional development in healthcare is an ongoing process, and the BC-CfE’s Intensive Preceptorship program continues to provide resources after the trainees complete their three modules. They can continue to contact BC-CfE physicians, and subscribe to mailing lists which provide the latest updates to HIV news. There’s also the HIV Community of Practice Listserv, a forum where clinicians can ask questions and share insights on optimal care for PLWH with other members of the BC-CfE’s community of practitioners.
In 2016, the College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) awarded the Preceptorship its Continuing Professional Development Award, recognizing it as best practice in clinical education. The BC-CfE Clinical Education Team is pleased to see the return to in-person learning.
We were happily surprised at the amount of interest in the program; it was more than we anticipated. There is a need for continuing medical education that addresses both basic HIV care, and the complexities that are involved in acute infection, comorbid conditions, and aging with HIV. It’s also exciting to meet our trainees; in the coming years, they are the ones who will be champions of HIV care in their communities.
– Dr. Cathy Puskas, Clinical Educator