Background: In healthcare, preceptors act as a role model and supervisor, thereby facilitating the socialisation and development of the preceptee into a professional fit to practice. To ensure a consistent approach to every preceptorship experience, preceptor competencies should be measured or assessed to ensure that the desired outcomes are achieved. Defining these would ensure quality management and could inform development of an preceptor competency framework. This review aimed to evaluate the evidence for preceptor competencies and assessment in health professions. Methods: This study followed the PRISMA ScR scoping review guidelines. A database search was conducted in Embase, Medline, CINAHL and IPA in 2019. Articles were included if they defined criteria for competency, measured or assessed competency, or described performance indicators of preceptors. A modified GRADE CERQual approach and CASP quality assessment were used to appraise identified competencies, performance indicators and confidence in evidence. Results: Forty one studies identified 17 evidence-based competencies, of which 11 had an associated performance indicator. The competency of preceptors was most commonly measured using a preceptee completed survey (moderate to high confidence as per CERQual), followed by preceptor self-assessment, and peer-assessment. Preceptee outcomes as a measure of preceptor performance had good but limited evidence. Conclusions: Competencies with defined performance indicators allow for effective measurement and may be modifiable with training. To measure preceptor competency, the preceptor perspective, as well as peer and preceptee assessment is recommended. These findings can provide the basis for a common preceptor competency framework in health professions.

Introduction: Verbal communication is a vital skill for pharmacists and essential for improving patient care. The aim of this study was to explore students’ perception of the impact of self-reflection and self- and peer-assessment on simulated patient counselling sessions. Methods: Focus groups explored student perceptions of how this course and way of learning has impacted their performance at counselling patients. Data were analysed using iterative inductive thematic analysis procedures and mapped to the self-determination theory. Results: Nine focus groups with 47 pharmacy students. We identified three main themes and ten associated subthemes. These were learning style (sub-themes gradual introduction to assessment, learning through self-reflection videos, authentic assessment, individual learning compared to group learning, and learning through observation of best practice), feedback (sub-themes inconsistent feedback, summative feedback, perception of self and relationship with peers informing peer assessment) and benefits in real life practice. These themes mapped well to self-determination theory and highlighted that additional focus may be required for benefits in real-life practice. Conclusion: Students’ perceptions of self-reflection and self- and peer-assessment centred on learning style, feedback, and benefits in real-life practice. Additional focus on benefits of this unit of study in real-life practice and work integrated learning on placements may further strengthen the impact of these learning activities.

Experiential education helps to integrate knowledge into practice, develops professionalism and understanding of a pharmacist's role in practice, and is a major component of pharmacy education. The role of the preceptor in experiential education is to model professional behaviours and provide feedback on student preceptee performance and competence. Little is known about how preceptors feel about their competency being assessed or the most appropriate way to assess competency. A qualitative study using focus groups was designed, and a purposive convenience sampling strategy was used to target pharmacy students, current pharmacy interns, and registered pharmacists. A semi-structured interview guide was used to probe participants' views of what makes for a good preceptorship experience, opinions about assessment of preceptor competency, and barriers to training and assessment of preceptors. Thirteen focus groups and three interviews were conducted with 56 participants from rural, regional, and urban areas in New South Wales, Australia. Six main themes were generated: the purpose of preceptorship, becoming a preceptor, developing shared expectations, experiences, competing demands, and assessment of preceptor competence. Preceptorship plays a vital role in the career development of pharmacy students and graduates. Preceptees expect the experience they attain will be the same as their peers regardless of site. Assessing preceptor competency has been identified as a way of standardising performance. This study highlights the need to better support preceptors with the aim of better standardising the preceptorship experience.

Teaching large cohorts of pharmacy students with a team of multiple tutors in a feedback intensive course poses challenges in relation the amount of data generated, data integrity, interpretation of the data and importantly application of the insights gained from the data. The dispensing and counselling course in the third year BPharm at the University of Sydney has implemented the USyd Pharmacy Dashboard, developed to address these challenges following the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge Framework (TPACK) to integrate technology into teaching. The dashboard was designed to improve the student experience through more consistent feedback, gain insights to improve teaching delivery and provide efficiencies in maintaining data integrity. The tool has been developed using an action-based research approach whereby ideas are put into practice as the means to further develop the idea and improve practice. Refinement of the USyd Pharmacy Dashboard over three years has shown improvements in teaching delivery as teachers can respond to emerging trends. Student performance and satisfaction scores have increased, mainly due to improved consistency between tutors and improved delivery of feedback. Time involved with administrative tasks such as data maintenance is reduced. Opportunities for further refinements such as real time benchmarking and developing an open learner model have become apparent.

Pharmacist preceptors facilitate the professional development of students and interns during preregistration training. Evaluating preceptor competency is essential for ensuring the quality and consistency of the training process. For effective evaluation to occur, consensus is needed to establish which preceptor competencies require assessment as well as the method of assessment and who should perform the assessment. The Delphi method was used to develop a consensus among experts in pharmacy education, accreditation, and practice settings. The study involved three rounds of anonymous surveys in REDCap, focusing on the necessity, feasibility, and methods of assessing preceptor competencies. A previous literature review identified 16 evidence-based competencies that formed the basis of the survey. An agreement level of 70% was set as the threshold for consensus. Among the 59 invited experts, 22 completed the first round, 13 completed the second round, and eight completed the last round. Consensus was achieved on 17 competencies, with 16 deemed feasible to assess. Eight were considered mandatory for assessment, and four were preferable. Consensus on assessment methods and suitable assessors was achieved for these patients. Four competencies were feasible to assess but lacked consensus on the method or assessor. A multimodal assessment approach, including preceptee surveys, self-assessments, and peer observations, was identified as suitable. Using a Delphi consensus method, by expert opinion, our study supports the perceived feasibility of assessing pharmacy preceptor competencies via a multimodal approach and clarifies who should assess each competency and how. Implementing these assessments can enhance preceptorship quality, facilitating consistent experiential placements for preceptees. The incorporation of preceptor assessment into accreditation standards should be considered essential to promote high-quality preceptorship and support the ongoing professional development of preceptors. The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12909-025-07738-y.

(1) Background: Structured use of feedback and self-reflection in simulated counselling sessions has a number of benefits, including identification of strategies for improvement, improvement in key skills and adaptability and a patient-centred approach which will help them to succeed as effective healthcare practitioners. The aim of this study was therefore to explore students’ perceptions of self-reflection and feedback in patient counselling simulations and the development of patient counselling skills; (2) Methods: Focus groups explored student perceptions of how the combination of self-reflection, self-assessment and teacher and peer feedback impacted their performance in simulated patient counselling assessments; (3) Results: Four focus groups with 21 pharmacy students were conducted. We identified three main themes and associated subthemes: consistency and continuity (sub-themes learning through repetitive assessment and inconsistent expectations), perceptions of feedback (sub-themes tutor feedback, peer feedback and self-reflection) and real-life practice (sub-themes authenticity of simulation cases, perceptions of empathy and professional development); (4) Conclusions: This study highlights the critical role of integrating consistent, high-quality feedback, peer assessment, and self-reflection in pharmacy education to enhance students’ learning experiences and prepare them for professional practice. As workplace-based assessment becomes more common and expected by accreditation bodies, these insights underscore the need for structured and continuous feedback processes to be integrated into all areas of pharmacy curricula.