General Program Overview
The purpose of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy (AACP) Distinguished Preceptor Recognition Program (DPRP) is to nationally recognize preceptors who are not full-time employees of a college/school of pharmacy for their sustained commitment to excellence in experiential education and professional practice. The DPRP was developed based on recommendations from the 2012 AACP Professional Affairs Committee and was approved for implementation by the AACP Board of Directors. This award is funded in part by the American Pharmacists Association (APhA), the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) Foundation.
The DPRP consists of a recognition plaque, free AACP membership for the year of DPRP recognition, and national recognition from AACP and other pharmacy associations.
Eligibility
- Each application must be submitted by the Experiential Education Department from no more than two colleges/schools of pharmacy. Each college/school of pharmacy may nominate no more than one nominee per year. A nominee’s name may not be submitted posthumously.
- Nominated preceptors must not be full-time employees nor have a primary employment commitment (>50% of the nominated preceptor’s work salary) to a U.S. member college or school of pharmacy.
- Nominated preceptors must have a minimum of 6 years of preceptor experience for a college/school of pharmacy. The total years of experience do not all have to be from the same college/school.
- Nominees will be evaluated based upon demonstration of and contributions to the following areas:
Evaluation
Commitment to Experiential Education
The nominee’s participation in:
- Precepting and evaluation of pharmacy students for IPPE and APPE rotations
- Precepting and evaluation of students from other healthcare professions.
- Precepting and evaluation of pharmacy residents and residents of other healthcare professions.
- Mentoring students or residents in the field of research.
Commitment to Service
The nominee contributes to his or her professional and/or general community. Examples may include the following:
Service to the Pharmacy Profession
- Active involvement in local, state and/or national pharmacy organizations
- Development and delivery of CPE related to teaching and learning
- Development and delivery of CPE related to the candidate’s expertise/ practice area
- Committee work at the preceptor’s practice site
- Privileges related to the preceptor’s practice site (any examples)
- Service as a contributed paper, poster and/or abstract reviewer
- Publication in peer-reviewed journals
- Demonstration of pharmacy innovation (e.g., creating new or revised practice models)
Service to the College/School of Pharmacy
- Serving as an advisor for student pharmacists
- Serving on a college/school committee or advisory board
- Performing admissions interviews
- Teaching of didactic courses at a college/school of pharmacy or other healthcare programs.
Other Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Related Community Service
- Active involvement in non-profit or non-profit or health-related organizations and events
- Participation in public awareness education campaigns
- Other community service not related to healthcare (e.g., PTA, Boy or Girl Scouts)
Awards, Recognitions, and Professional Credentials:
The nominee has received accolades from other organizations or institutions related to teaching/precepting, practice or service. This includes:
- College/School of pharmacy awards (i.e., preceptor, alumni, service)
- Employer preceptor or service award
- State and/or national association awards
- Other civic, professional or social recognition
- Attainment of professional/practice credentials
Nomination Procedure
- Nominations must be submitted by the Experiential Education department from a college/school of pharmacy. Each college/school of pharmacy may nominate no more than one nominee per year. A nominee’s name may not be submitted posthumously. Re-nominations of past preceptors nominated for the award are welcome. The parts of the college/school of pharmacy application include:
- A completed nomination form by the Office of Experiential Education, including a Letter of Recommendation from the office.
- A co-nomination application requires two separate nomination forms/Letters of Recommendation
- Signed acknowledgment statement from nominating college/school of pharmacy Dean
- A co-nomination application requires two separate acknowledgment statements
- Letter of recommendation from a direct supervisor or peer of the nominated preceptor attesting to the preceptor’s experiential and/or professional service competency;
- A co-nomination application requires two separate recommendation letters
- A completed nomination form by the Office of Experiential Education, including a Letter of Recommendation from the office.
- Each nominated preceptor must provide the following information to complete the college or school’s nomination:
- Resume or Curriculum Vitae (CV)
- Completion of a brief questionnaire highlighting the key attributes of the award:
- Experiential Education
- Service to the Pharmacy Profession and College/School of Pharmacy
- Other Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Service
- Awards, Recognitions and Professional Credentials
- A complete application, including the nominated preceptor-provided information, must be submitted to AACP by 5:00 pm EST on Thursday, February 1, 2024. Materials will then be reviewed by the advisory committee once an initial screening is completed.
- Awardees of the DPRP will be notified in March 2024.
- Questions regarding the nomination or submission process should be directed to Tom Maggio, AACP's Associate Director of Public Affairs.
Submission Portal
The submission portal provides you with the necessary links, forms, and documentation for submitting a nominee. AACP will compile all the materials for each nominee and begin the review process once a submission is complete.
Selection Procedure
- All nomination applications will be screened for completeness by AACP staff upon receipt. If time permits, staff will notify the nominators of missing items. Applications that are incomplete at the deadline for submission will not be evaluated.
- The DPRP Advisory Board will conduct a review of nominations considering the established criteria for the recognition program. The various elements of the application will be weighted as follows:
- Commitment to Experiential Education: 40%
- Commitment to Service: 30%
- Service to the Pharmacy Profession
- Service to the College/School of Pharmacy
- Awards, Recognitions, and Profession Credentials: 10%
- Recommendation Letter(s): 10%
- Other Healthcare and Non-Healthcare Community Service: 10%
- After the evaluation process, the advisory board will select distinguished preceptors who meet the threshold of 95% of the total weighted score.