Students, Preceptors & the ORPCE Program

In response to a shift toward community-based primary care education, the North Carolina Area Health Education Centers (AHEC) Program has established an Office of Regional Primary Care Education (ORPCE) in each of the state's nine AHECs. The purpose of the ORPCE is to facilitate and enhance high quality health profession student training in community settings. Students in medical, physician assistant, nurse practitioner and Pharm D programs in North Carolina schools are currently being precepted by health professionals in the Greensboro AHEC region.

We work closely with the following schools and programs:

• University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine, Nurse Practitioner Program, Pharm D Program
  
• Duke University School of Medicine, Physician Assistant Program, Nurse Practitioner Program
  
• Wake Forest University, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Physician Assistant Program
  
• University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Geriatric Nurse Practitioner Program
  
• East Carolina University School of Medicine, Physician Assistant Program

Our staff serves as liaison between community practices and the health science schools. We support the preceptors and assist the students and schools in the following ways:

• Help ensure that community preceptors teach the students they want at the times they want them
  
• Provide faculty development opportunities to community preceptors to help them sharpen their skills as teacher and preceptor
  
• Facilitate the faculty appointment process
  
• Provide preceptors and students with local health statistics and other resource information
  
• Provide students with housing and local community information
  
• Recruit community practices as teaching sites
  
• Recruit local primary care practitioners as preceptors