Emotion in remediation: A scoping review of the medical education literature

Abstract

Objectives: Remediation can be crucial and high stakes for medical learners, and experts agree it is often not optimally conducted. Research from other fields indicates that explicit incorporation of emotion improves education because of emotion's documented impacts on learning. Because this could present an important opportunity for improving remediation, we aimed to investigate how the literature on remediation interventions in medical education discusses emotion.

Enhancing remediation by focusing on affective experience

“…In 2020, the proportion of Black and Latinx students reached 24% of the incoming class, up from 10-13% in preceding years. 1 The study demonstrates that an institution can effectively utilise a multifaceted, antiracist approach to increase representation in their student body.…”

“…Despite efforts at the federal and institutional levels, underrepresented minorities comprise a smaller percentage of U.S. medical students today than 20 years ago. 1 As the gatekeeper to the field, the medical admissions process significantly affects the proportion of underrepresented minorities in medicine. Addressing forms of conscious and unconscious bias in the admissions process will play a critical role as we seek to reform the current system.…”

“…The authors found students' MCAT scores did not significantly correlate with STEP I performance and medical school advancement at their institution. 1 These findings led them to approach applicants' MCAT scores in a pass/fail manner and blind interviewers to scores. The authors state that while the nature of the MCAT perpetuates systemic inequities, the test itself has not been shown to have inherent racial bias.…”

“…The authors state that while the nature of the MCAT perpetuates systemic inequities, the test itself has not been shown to have inherent racial bias. 1 However, this may not be the case. Analysis of preparatory materials provided by the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) reflects a potentially problematic design.…”

Strangers in a strange land: The experience of physicians undergoing remediation

“…For example, a recent scoping review on emotion in remediation references several papers that include the need for emotional support for either learners or practitioners requiring remediation. 19 However, although these papers note that remediatees showed anger and denial and 'felt embarrassed and defensive', 20 these assertions were based on outsider observations of the remediatees' behaviours rather than on reflections from the remediatees themselves. Because these emotions were categorised by observers, the lived experiences of remediatees are poorly understood.…”