Policies and Procedures for Remediation

Remediation is a process defined by the PA Program where a student remains in their cohort while the program addresses deficiencies in a student’s knowledge and skills. Due to academic reasons, students who are decelerated and/or take a leave of absence may also be required to remediate to strengthen deficiencies.

Didactic Remediation (Focused Improvement)

Remediation that addresses a student’s deficiency of knowledge and/or skill. Eligibility is determined by the Academic Progress Committee (APC) and the remediation faculty and is based on remediation criteria, which is listed below. The student’s weak areas will be identified, and an individualized academic remediation plan will be developed. Students will be expected to participate in mandatory remediation sessions. These sessions will fall outside the regular classroom times to ensure that the student does not miss any current curricular content. Didactic remediation is mandatory and failure to fully participate may delay the student’s rate of progression in the program, affect their professional standing in the program, or lead to dismissal if goals are not met. The overall goal of remediation is to identify a struggling student’s weaknesses and promote successful progression through the didactic phase of the program. Students will enter into the didactic remediation (Focused Improvement) based on the following early identification criteria:

Focused Improvement criteria includes, but is not limited to:

Course grades with C+ or below
Multiple exam and quizzes below 76%
Cumulative GPA less than 2.667 at any time during the program
Semester GPA less than 2.333 at any time during the program
Failure of one or more courses
Requirement of 2 or more make-up exams
Leave of absence or conditional academic standing
Faculty recommendation

Preclinical Remediation: Knowledge Integration for Clinical Medicine, MTPA 690

At the conclusion of the didactic year, if a student meets any of the following criteria they may be required to participate in a five-week mandatory course (Knowledge Integration for Clinical Medicine). If the student is not successful in this course they may be decelerated or dismissed from the program. Additional information and course syllabi are available on Canvas for registered students only.

Any or all of the following criteria may be used to determine the need for remediation prior to entering the clinical year but is not limited to:

Course grades of C+ or below
Multiple exam and quiz failures
Cumulative GPA less than 2.667 at any time during the program
Semester GPA less than 2.333 at any time during the program
Failure of one or more courses
Failure of the End of Didactic Year Exam
Requirement of 2 or more make-up exams for failed courses
Leave of absence or conditional academic standing
Program specific criteria (see Program Addendum)
Faculty recommendation

Additionally, if a student has moved into the clinical year and is not meeting the standards, they may be required to participate in the Knowledge Integration for Clinical Medicine course.

Any student that meets the following criteria during the clinical year and/or Culminating Semester may be required to participate in focused improvement.

Students will be assigned a remediation advisor and participate in a study program designed to strengthen academic durability, clinical knowledge, study techniques, exam taking, and time management. Each academic plan will be created by the remediation team which will cater to the individual needs of the student. Students will be required to participate in focused improvement until the remediation committee and/or the APC determines that the student no longer requires it.

Students that meet one or more of the following criteria will participate in focused improvement as described above:

Cumulative GPA below B- (2.667)
3 or more MSAT examinations below 70%
Any student on Conditional Academic standing
Failure of more than 1 EOR
Low pass of 2 or more EOR exams
Clinical Faculty/Advisor recommendation

Mandatory Remediation (summative exam failure)

Any student that meets the following criteria during the clinical year and/or Culminating Semester may be required to participate in focused improvement.

Students that meet one or more of the following criteria will participate in focused improvement as described above:

Cumulative GPA below B- (2.667)
3 or more MSAT examinations below 70%
Any student on Conditional Academic standing
Failure of more than 1 EOR
Low pass of 2 or more EOR exams
Clinical Faculty/Advisor recommendation
Any decelerated student due to poor academic performance
Multiple rotation grades of C+ or below
Students that take an LOA for one rotation or more
Failure of two or more knowledge checks

The duration of remediation will be approximately 6-8 weeks and will consist of completion of an online exam platform, sub-composite exams and a final composite exam. The online exam platform will be determined by the Remediation Committee and the Academic Progress Committee (APC). Each student will be responsible for completing the required electronic review material including, but not limited to, ROSH, and/or Kaplan. Each week, students will be required to take a sub-composite exam which are derived from the NCCPA Blueprint content areas. Students must obtain a minimum average of 76% on the sub-composite portion of remediation. The final step of remediation requires the student to take a final comprehensive exam that includes all content areas. The passing grade for final comprehensive exam is 76% or the national average if a national composite exam is administered. Please note: Students participating in mandatory remediation must satisfy the aforementioned criteria.

Based on the students’ academic performance, the final comprehensive exam or national comprehensive exam may serve as the make-up to a failed summative exam at the discretion of the APC. Students will only be allotted one make-up for a failed summative exam. Failure to pass with a 76% may result in remediation, deceleration, or dismissal from the program. Any student who fails remediation will be brought before the APC to discuss the student’s status in the program. Students that do not pass the mandatory remediation successfully may be subject to additional remediation, deceleration, or dismissal. Students that are placed in the remediation cycle will not be cleared through the NCCPA portal until such time that a student successfully completes remediation, and the faculty feels that the student has been prepared adequately for patient care and the PANCE.

Clinical Remediation

As per ARC-PA standards, students must not only meet all academic competencies, but also professional competencies. If the faculty deems a student substandard clinically as evidenced directly or through preceptor feedback, then the student will be placed on CLINICAL PROVISIONAL STANDING and will be subject to remediation for clinical skills development. This determination is made based on the Preceptor feedback and student's performance on OSCE's and may not require a student to have failed either. The remediation may include, but is not limited to, history taking, physical exam skills, formulating an assessment and implementation of a treatment plan, and performance of additional OSCEs. This may also include such skills as performing clinical procedures. Successful completion of Clinical Remediation will lift the provisional standing.

Clinical remediation may also be warranted based on performance of a student in their EOR or MSAT exams. Students who fail an EOR exam or fail an MSAT exam, will be candidates for clinical remediation. Students who fail to meet clinical performance proficiency standards may be required to complete additional clinical hours and/or rotations as deemed by the APC during the culminating semester. The student who enters remediation in the clinical phase will remain in remediation until the completion of the culminating semester.