About Dr. Nicole McGuire and Doc Mac Learning
Doc Mac Learning helps residency programs handle resident remediation with a clear process, from the first concern to the final decision. I founded it after years of watching good programs struggle with the same problems. Today we help programs build a process they can stand behind.
My belief is simple
Resident remediation should be fair, defensible, and effective.
Too often, remediation becomes overwhelming. It isn't because programs don't care. It's because they don't have a clear framework. Expectations shift from one case to the next. The conversation happened in the hallway and never got written down. Then a decision gets questioned, and the file doesn't show what everyone knew. Meanwhile, the resident is left guessing about how to improve.
Remediation doesn't have to be complicated to work. When expectations are clear and the process has structure, remediation becomes a tool for growth instead of a source of stress, for the resident and for the program.
How I came to this work
I'm Dr. Nicole McGuire, DHSc, MS, RRT, Founder & President of Doc Mac Learning. I've worked in graduate medical education since 2012 as an education specialist, alongside faculty, program leadership and residents.
Over and over, I saw the same thing. Programs cared about their residents, and they usually knew when one was struggling. What they didn't have was a way to name the problem, write a plan the resident could actually follow, and document it so anyone else could see what happened and why. Every case got rebuilt from scratch.
So I started building that process.
Why I created the ELEVATE Framework
I created the ELEVATE Framework to give residency programs a clear, step-by-step approach to remediation that is fair to the resident and that the program can explain and stand behind.
It's grounded in adult learning principles and in the realities of running a residency program. It gives faculty a shared language for what they're seeing and a clear picture of what improvement has to look like, tied to the resident's own milestones. The seven steps are Establish Assessment Methods, Leverage the Team, Execute the Plan, Validate Plan Feasibility, Adjust, Transform and Empower.
What is the C-RGME certification?
The Certification in Remediation in Graduate Medical Education (C-RGME) is a professional, competency-based certification for GME professionals who handle remediation: program directors, associate program directors, coordinators, GME office staff and faculty. It teaches you to apply the ELEVATE Framework in your own program.
You can start anytime. As you work through it, you submit deliverables, and you get personalized written feedback on each one, so you see exactly what to revise. I review and revise every piece of feedback myself before it reaches you. Implementation support sessions help you put the framework in place in your own program. The Remediation Roundtables are live, topic-based discussions where participants bring real cases, and they run in the Remediation Lab.
You earn the certification by passing the competency-based Capstone. Finishing the material isn't enough. Everyone who earns it is listed on the C-RGME Registry.
How we work with you
Doc Mac Learning started with me, and I'm still its founder and the voice of its mission. When you submit a deliverable, you get detailed written feedback, and I personally review and revise every piece before it goes to you. We run the implementation support sessions and the Remediation Roundtables, and we answer your questions between sessions.
It all comes back to one belief. Resident remediation should be fair to the resident and clear enough that your program can stand behind every decision. That's the work we do with you.
Have a resident on your mind right now?
That's a good time to start. You can begin C-RGME anytime and bring that case with you.
See who has earned the credential on the C-RGME Registry
See How C-RGME Works