Name
From Remediation to Growth: Coaching Conversations That Turn Struggling Learners into Successful Physicians
Speakers
Date & Time
Tuesday, October 20, 2026, 10:45 AM - 10:59 AM
Presentation Category
Designing Holistic Programs: Growth-Oriented Assessment, Feedback, and Learner Development
Description
Purpose
Medical educators are increasingly challenged to support struggling learners while fostering growth rather than simply correcting deficits. Although mentoring and advising are common, coaching offers a distinct educational approach that promotes self-reflection, learner ownership, and professional identity formation. This presentation describes the development and implementation of a physician coaching program designed to support learner success through structured coaching conversations.
Methods
Over four years, a counselor-developed coaching program has provided individualized coaching to more than 300 resident and fellow physicians across multiple specialties. Learners participated through self-referral, program referral, or remediation. Coaching emphasized reflective questioning, goal setting, accountability, and strengths-based feedback rather than directive problem solving. The presentation will describe the coaching framework and highlight practical techniques faculty can integrate into routine learner interactions.
Results
The program has delivered more than 500 coaching hours and has been associated with improvements in learner confidence, communication, leadership, stress management, and professional development. Coaching has also served as an early intervention strategy for learners experiencing academic or professional challenges, helping many successfully return to good standing and complete training.
Conclusion
Coaching complements traditional mentoring and advising by fostering learner autonomy, resilience, and growth through reflection and feedback. Participants will leave with practical coaching strategies that can be incorporated into everyday educational conversations to create more supportive, growth-oriented learning environments.