If the faculty member agrees with the grade, it will stand. Students are evaluated on their evidence of their critical and diagnostic thinking and on steady progress toward informed management of common health concerns of adults and their families. Students are assigned to a clinical site that best meets their individual learning needs. The clinical focus is on assessment, self-care teaching, and symptom management for adults from adolescence to old age. Clinical preceptors include master's-prepared nurse practitioners and other qualified primary health care providers.
Students prepare for clinical experiences by reading any appropriate texts or journal articles.
Since each clinical experience is different, each student will determine for themselves what reading needs to be done. Faculty preceptors evaluate students during site visits, where they observe the student interacting with clients and on-site preceptors. Students demonstrate evidence of critical and diagnostic thinking through the use of detailed, written clinical case analyses prepared by students during their clinical experiences. These case studies are evaluated by preceptors and faculty for conciseness, consistency, comprehensiveness, and completeness. The formal Paradigm Clinical Case Stories are written according to the guidelines provided.