Medical practitioners within university health service facilities bring individualized attention to a student's physical and emotional well-being. This creates a unique opportunity to work within the educational constructs of the university while also providing direct clinical care services. Despite an abundance of research in the field of professional development and student services there has been limited research focused on the medical staff within health service facilities on land-grant college campuses. With the unique clinical setting of providing patient care along with support and guidance to students on their educational and life journeys, the study explored the types of professional development opportunities afforded to practitioners. The purpose of this study is to investigate perceptions of university medical practitioners' opportunities of professional development and how these experiences shape contributions to the university's educational mission. The study focused on three key questions. First, in what way do medical practitioners see their operational role on campus as agents for the university's educational mission? Second, to what extent do university medical practitioners believe their professional development opportunities are in alignment with the university's educational mission? Finally, what are the perceptions of university medical practitioners toward their conceived ability to help college students succeed on campus in fulfillment of the university's educational mission? The theoretical framework for the study centered on both change agency theory in the form of professional development and its influence on interactions with students and relational cultural theory. This study used a basic qualitative research methodology. Fourteen participants from seven different Midwest land-grant universities were interviewed for this study. Interviews were semi-structured in nature, with all participants following an initial interview script. Findings suggested four primary themes for the study. First, that practitioners see their role as developmental agents for a well-rounded explorative approach to student success. Second, that practitioners were able to identify professional development opportunities in both real and ideal terms. Third, practitioners sensed tension within alignment of their professional development opportunities as it related to the institution's mission as well as tension as it relates to organizational structure. The final theme was that practitioners can be seen as having an evolving view as educators in both providing building blocks for student life and with their conceived ability to help students succeed. Recommendations from the research included a need for continued development, refinement, and assessment of professional development plans with a need for transparency and evaluation with campus stakeholders. Additionally, there is a need for increased communication and collaboration between health services departments and student services leadership to achieve a collective understanding of professional development and its relationship to supporting the institution's educational mission. A final recommendation is heightened awareness and recognition of medical practitioners as educators with a need for resources and development related to student success principles. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://bibliotheek.ehb.be:2222/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]