Mentor or preceptor: What is the difference?

The terms mentor and preceptor are often used interchangeably. However, these two very important roles have defining features that make them quite different. The relationship between a mentor and mentee is a “naturally formed, one-on-one, mutual, committed, nonsexual relationship between a junior and senior person designed to promote personal and professional development beyond any particular curricular or institutional goals.”1 This relationship is one of mutual benefit. Mentors provide direction, foster self-confidence, and instill the values mentees need to develop professionally. Serving as a mentor can provide a sense of pride and gratification. In addition, mentors often find their interest and passion for pharmacy renewed by the enthusiasm displayed by students and young professionals. Mentoring relationships tend to be long-term commitments and persist over many years. The mentor–mentee relationship should evolve over time to meet the mentee’s changing needs. Unlike the mentor–mentee relationship, the preceptor–student relationship is prearranged, and neither the student nor the preceptor chooses the other. In this arrangement, the commitment to each other is short-term, with most rotations lasting only four to six weeks. Once students complete the rotation, their interaction with the preceptor likely ceases unless the interaction is continued with subsequent rotations. Similar to mentors and mentees, preceptors and students receive mutual benefits: Students gain the knowledge and skills necessary for them to become pharmacists, and preceptors are able to do what they enjoy—teach.