"Directed" self-assessment: practice and feedback within a social context.

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Physician Performance Assessment

Background:

• Accurate self-assessment is difficult for physicians.
• Multisource feedback (MSF) from patients, peers, and coworkers may improve self-assessment accuracy.
• Previous studies explored MSF in family physicians.

Purpose of the Study:

• Explore self-assessment within the social context of MSF.
• Investigate how peer and other feedback influences physician self-assessment.
• Propose a model to integrate external feedback into self-assessment.

Main Methods:

• Review and synthesis of findings from a series of studies on physician self-assessment and MSF.
• Development of a conceptual model for self-assessment in a social context.
• Identification of practical and research implications.

Main Results:

• Physicians compare external feedback with their self-perceptions.
• Inconsistent negative feedback, particularly from medical colleagues, is difficult to reconcile.
• Internal and environmental factors influence feedback assimilation; reflection is key.

Conclusions:

• A "directed" self-assessment model facilitates integration of external feedback, especially negative feedback, with self-perceptions.
• This model aids in using feedback for practice improvement.
• Further research and educational strategies are needed to understand feedback assimilation and the role of facilitators.