Survey of Residents' Attitudes and Awareness Toward Teaching and Student Feedback

Teaching medical students is an important component of residency; however, little is known about student feedback regarding resident teaching skills.

We sought to explore resident awareness of medical student feedback mechanisms and how feedback is obtained, and also identified attitudes about teaching more commonly found in residents who seek feedback.

We surveyed all resident physicians at a university-affiliated academic health center about awareness of student feedback regarding their teaching abilities, and their attitudes related to teaching that may impact whether residents seek feedback.

Of 605 residents, 335 (55%) responded, with 72% (242 of 335) noting they did not formally review student feedback of their teaching with their advisor during regularly scheduled meetings, 42% (140 of 332) reporting they did not know of any formal feedback mechanisms, and 28.4% (95 of 334) reporting they had not received feedback from students in any format. Although only a quarter of residents solicit feedback always or often, more than half would like feedback always or often. Reported barriers to feedback included student apprehension, time constraints, and lack of a formal system. A majority of residents had positive attitudes toward teaching and felt that student feedback would help teaching ability and medical proficiency.

A large percentage of residents at 1 teaching institution reported not receiving feedback from students on their teaching abilities. Residents who did receive feedback were more likely to have actively solicited it. Overall, residents believe that this feedback from students would benefit their clinical and teaching performance.