The recent trend towards ambulatory teaching can pose challenges in terms of recruitment of ambulatory teachers. In order to improve recruitment efforts, we examined the reasons that community preceptors who teach and those who do not teach give for teaching or not teaching students in their offices. Physicians who teach students in their offices report they do so for the enjoyment and for the opportunity to provide teaching to these students. Physicians who do not teach in their offices report constraints of their practice situation, having other non-teaching challenges and being unaware of the teaching possibilities as barriers to teaching. Community preceptors were more likely to be alumni (medical school or postgraduate training) than those who were not preceptors. This study provides insight into the motivators and barriers for ambulatory teachers and has implications for recruiting and rewarding community preceptors.