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Article History

Received: 6 September 2020

Accepted: 14 March 2021

First Online: 8 April 2021

Declarations

:

: We obtained ethical approval for the trial (University of Alberta, Alberta health services, and Covenant health joint health research ethics board, Pro00065136) and applied for and received exemption from obtaining informed consent. This was granted because: the CPSA has the legal authority/obligation under the health professions act of Alberta (Health Professions Act, R.S.A. 2000, c H-7) to intervene regardless, the most onerous intervention arm of the trial (group 4) was our ‘usual care’ and hence recruiting participants could easily be perceived as coercive (“if you don’t agree to participate you will be allocated to the severest group anyway”), physicians are not seen as disadvantaged and because it was of critical importance for the public good. Also, two arms of the trial investigated the effect of contact with the medical regulator which we couldn’t do if the physicians were aware.

: Not applicable.

: None for any authors. The views and comments expressed in this article are solely the views of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Alberta nor the University of Alberta.