Preceptors and volunteer clinical faculty offer students individual perspectives and hands-on experience in a variety of health care settings and specialties. The cumulative effect of what these volunteers impart plays a significant role in the care any health system delivers.
- Clinical preceptors are integral to the future of nursing.
- They volunteer their time and energy, using education and training in an effort to assure that the profession grows and thrives.
- They provide students with learning experiences that prepare them for the role of expert care provider.
- Preceptors can advance their career by becoming a UCSF volunteer faculty, participating in CE opportunities, and collaborating on projects within the School of Nursing.
- For more information, contact Clinical Placements Supervisor Tammy Ryan.
Why I Precept
What Makes a Great Preceptor?
Recognizing Our Preceptors
In honor of the critical contributions that preceptors make to advance student learning, the UCSF School of Nursing faculty are honoring one preceptor each month. The award recognizes an exceptional preceptor who consistently and effectively contributes to UCSF nursing students’ clinical education.

Andres Marin, MD, is a family physician who graduated from the UCSF School of Medicine. Marin has a clinical practice at La Clinica at the Fruitvale Transit Village in East Oakland where he has been providing culturally appropriate primary care across the lifespan to underserved, multi-lingual communities for the 13 years. He is also an attending physician at the Family Health Center at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital. Marin has been a committed, compassionate and inspirational preceptor in the UCSF School of Nursing's Family Nurse Practitioner specialty for the past nine years, repeatedly confirming his dedication to promoting advanced practice nursing.
"I enjoy working with students because they bring innovation and creativity to medicine and patient encounters, remaining sensitive to social determinants of health while validating and prioritizing patient values,” Marin said. “It is an honor to witness and participate in their academic and clinical journey."
Mary Massella, an assistant clinical professor, stated: "As a current FNP faculty member and former FNP student who was precepted by Dr. Marin, I appreciate his sensitivity to the patients he serves and his respect for the importance of the nurse practitioner's role as a partnership in providing primary care to our communities."
Joscelyn Armanta, a former FNP student who trained with him, added: "Andres Marin is the best preceptor I have had in the past three years. He was supportive of my learning. He helped me develop differentials and truly understand the pathophys behind certain conditions.”
Read about other recipients of the School of Nursing Preceptor Awards.