If you are a practicing PA who is interested in serving as a preceptor for PA students, please click here for an interactive map that will lead you to contact information for all programs by state.

PAEA is working with AAPA to tackle one of the most important issues facing the PA profession — the shortage of preceptors and clinical sites that face PA programs in many parts of the country. The theme of this initiative is "pay it forward": the idea that all PAs can use their knowledge and experience to help the next generation of PAs and carry the whole profession forward.

Workforce shortages are projected in medicine and in many other health care professions over the next decade or two and the PA profession is well positioned to help meet the demand for health care providers. But a recent PAEA survey found that while the majority of programs are willing to consider expanding their enrollments, limited clinical training sites and preceptors was the most significant barrier to PA programs expanding.
Increasing the numbers of PAs graduating each year means increasing the number of preceptors.

This is where clinical PAs can help. Precepting a PA student can be one of the most rewarding experiences of a career, according to many PAs who precept students. Students bring many wonderful things to a practice: energy, enthusiasm, technological expertise, and new ideas. They can help educate practices and patients about the PA profession. And perhaps most valuable of all, students are tremendous source of potential new employees; more than one-third of PAs find their first jobs through clinical rotations. Precepting can also bring more tangible benefits, like adjunct faculty appointments, access to university facilities, and reduced tuition for coursework.

For more information on precepting, check the list of resources on the right-hand side of this page, or go to the Clinical Preceptors section of the Web site, under Faculty Development. A flyer on precepting is available here.