Optimal learning environments from the perspective of resident physicians and associations with accreditation length

Indicators of program quality in graduate medical education have not been thoroughly well developed or studied. This study explores resident physicians' perceptions of program quality and associations with an external quality indicator.

Responses to two open-ended questions about program strengths and areas in need of improvement were analyzed for 392 residents from 14 specialty programs that were reaccredited between 1999 and 2005. Computerized text analysis facilitated reliable categorization of 1,502 comments. Mann-Whitney U tests and nonparametric analyses for correlated data were used to examine associations between resident perceptions and accreditation length.

The most frequently mentioned program strengths were related to the quality of faculty, exposure to patients, education, and the social environment. Of these core strengths, residents in programs with longer cycle lengths had significantly more comments about the quality of faculty in their program.

Resident feedback can provide beneficial information about dimensions of program quality and the learning environment.