Remediation in Canadian medical residency programs: Established and emerging best practices

AbstractBackground: Policies to guide remediation in postgraduate medical education exist in all Canadian medical schools. This study examines concordance between these policies and processes, and published “best practices” in remediation.Method: We conducted a literature review to identify best practices in the area of remediation. We then reviewed remediation policies from all 13 English medical schools in Canada other than our own and conducted interviews with key informants from each institution. Each policy and interview transcript pair was then reviewed for evidence of pre-defined “best practices.” Team members also noted additional potential policy or process enablers of successful remediation.Results: Most policies and processes aligned with some but not all published best practices. For instance, all participating schools tailored remediation strategies to individual resident needs, and a majority encouraged faculty-student relationships during remediation. Conversely, few required the teaching o...