A step in the right direction: continuous mentorship programs as part of a multidimensional credentialing and privileging process for rural surgery and obstetrics

In the fall of 2016, the Canadian Journal of Rural Medicine published an article on volume-based privileging programs for physicians working rurally in Canada.1 The authors warned of the threat to medical services of an already at-risk Canadian rural patient population. A mentorship, because it involves real-time observation, would be helpful in determining the legitimacy of a practitioner's training program. [...]any identified areas in which improvement is needed could be addressed by the coaching component of the program. Currency has been shown to be an inconsistent, if not poor, marker of competency.1 Unfortunately, low-volume centres have insufficient data for statistical significance when enrolled in continuous quality-improvement programs such as the National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. [...]the determination of competency remains nebulous.