Supporting clinical preceptors with interprofessional orientation sessions.

In 2007, the Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology (SIAST) received approval and funding to develop and deliver common interprofessional preceptor orientation sessions at the request of health care preceptors in the province of Saskatchewan. The initiative was viewed as an effective and innovative strategy to support the goals of preceptor education and interprofessional patient-centred education of health care professionals. The aim was to provide interprofessional orientation sessions for preceptors with the expectation that they would relate collaborative learning to collaborative practice with students and clients. It was also anticipated that the students' experiences with preceptors would be positively informed by an understanding of interpersonal and inter-group processes of professionalism. The approach of the project was to deliver two interprofessional orientation sessions to a total of 80 preceptors with one session in Regina, Saskatchewan and one in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. Each interprofessional session was approximately two-three hours in length and facilitated by two program faculty members from health care programs who had extensive experience in interprofessional education and development.