Paying Community Preceptors in the Family Medicine Clerkship: Trends From a CERA Secondary Analysis

Background and Objectives: Recent evidence has suggested that fewer family medicine clerkships are using community preceptors as their primary source of teaching. One way to incentivize community preceptors is to pay them. Multiple factors, though, make payment of community preceptors complex. Our study looked at trends in payment of community preceptors in the United States and Canada over the past decade. Methods: We performed a secondary analysis of the Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance annual family medicine clerkship director surveys from 2014 to 2023. We analyzed the surveys’ standard clerkship payment questions and identified trends using Pearson’s correlation coefficient test. Results: From 2014 to 2023, we found no significant change in the number of medical schools that pay community preceptors in the family medicine clerkship. We also found no significant change in the amount paid to community preceptors in the family medicine clerkship. In 2014, the average amount paid was $238±138 per student, compared to 2023 where the average amount paid was $258±$158. When analyzed against inflation, these data reflect that a significant gap in the value of the compensation for community preceptors has developed. Conclusions: The compensation of community preceptors in US and Canadian family medicine clerkships has not kept up with inflation. Additional research is needed to study the motivations of community preceptors to educate in the family medicine clerkship and how both monetary and nonmonetary incentives can help recruit and retain these important educators.