Functions of a family medicine preceptorship.

The preceptorship in family medicine, a required four-week experience for fourth-year medical students at the University of North Carolina, was studied during academic year 1976--77. Analysis of narrative comments and closed-ended scales indicated that the preceptorship was a "synthesis" experience valued by both students and preceptors, regardless of the students' choice of graduate specialty training. From these same data seven functions of the preceptorship, many of which are not official program goals, were identified. The authors recommend that preceptorships be designed and evaluated with these, often latent, functions in mind.