Family Medicine Resident Remediation Compared Across Two CERA Studies

Area of Science:

• Medical Education Research
• Graduate Medical Education
• Family Medicine

Background:

• Medical schools increasingly adopted online learning for patient care education between 2020-2022.
• Family medicine program directors reported on resident competency attainment.
• A hypothesis suggested increased need for medical knowledge remediation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate factors associated with resident remediation needs and outcomes.
• To compare remediation data from 2017 and 2023 Council of Academic Family Medicine Educational Research Alliance (CERA) studies.
• To identify the most common core competency requiring remediation.

Main Methods:

• Comparative analysis of 2017 and 2023 CERA studies.
• Evaluation of factors linked to remediation requirements, completion, duration, and competency.
• Statistical analysis to determine associations between various factors and remediation variables.

Main Results:

• Successful resident remediation increased in 2023 compared to 2017 (P=.006).
• Remediation duration remained stable at 6-12 months.
• Professionalism was the most common competency needing remediation (45.1% in 2023), followed by medical knowledge (25.2% in 2023).
• No significant associations were found between resident, program, or program director factors and remediation outcomes or competency needs.

Conclusions:

• Professionalism continues to be the leading core competency requiring remediation for family medicine residents.
• Resident, program, training, and program director factors were not associated with remediation needs, success rates, or the specific competency requiring remediation.