Just-in-Time Remediation of Medical Students During the Preclinical Years

Many medical schools have adopted competency-based education where educators identify the necessary knowledge and skills expected of their students and design activities and assessments to help determine whether students have achieve these competencies. Inevitably, some students will fail to demonstrate the desired competencies after standard instruction and require remediation. A Just-In-Time remediation program was implemented in the Foundations of Medicine course at the University of Minnesota Medical School. After each week’s instruction, all students participated in a Friday assessment. Students performing below the 70 % pass rate were encouraged to: (1) attend a Saturday morning discussion session; (2) reflect on their performance; and (3) take a reassessment on Monday. Twenty-two out of 60 students failed at least one assessment and remediating students’ significantly improved from Friday to Monday on five of the six assessments. There was a correlation between the number of assessments students successfully remediated and their performance on the final examination. On the post-course survey, remediating students agreed with statements that the Saturday discussion sessions and the Monday reassessments helped support student learning. Free response comments indicated the option of re-testing decreased students’ stress levels. Incorporating regular assessments, a collaborative learning environment, self-reflection, and the opportunity to reassess, facilitated remediation of students during the course.