But I was expecting to see Dr. Preceptor

Quite frequently the patients I'm expected to see want to see my preceptor instead. Despite residents being a part of my preceptor's practice for more than ten years, they are confused when a resident comes into the office.

They are sometimes very upset that I've come into the room. Others are simply confused about what the procedure in this scenario is.

The ones who are upset either can be convinced that hanging with me for ten minutes isn't so bad or they become too frustrated to allow me to chat with them.

Generally, the patients who allow me to care for them are happy to have met me and will happily see me again. It's just a matter of getting my foot in the door. Literally.

So why do patients get dumped on me as a resident rather than getting to see the preceptor?

There can be a few reasons. Most importantly, the patients I get to see are among the best my preceptor has in his practice. They are generally kind and easy to get along with rather than the usual "difficult patient".

Another reason is much more basic. We are sharing time and patients. I go to the next patient on the schedule. Sometimes the lottery of it all means that some patients end up with residents more than they don't.

Once you've seen a resident and built a rapport with them, it may be logical that your next appointment may be with the resident again.

Given how strapped we are for family docs in Canada, we need to be training new doctors all the time. These docs need to learn in a real environment. It would take much longer for patients to be seen if these residents were buddied with their preceptor.


The problem many patients have with seeing residents is that they feel that the older doc is kept out of the loop. This isn't (shouldn't be) the case.

The resident discusses each case with their preceptor and follows the care plan that the preceptor had previously laid out unless there is a discussion about deviating from it.

When a preceptor takes a resident he/she is responsible for everything that resident does in their name. It's in their best interest to keep themselves in the patient's business.

As a rule though, it's worth letting the resident take part in your care. We are fresh from our teaching, knowing everything new and exciting in medicine. We are eager to please.

And many of us are damn cute.

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