Utilizing the F3App to Capture Learner Feedback About Faculty Teaching

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires soliciting learner feedback on faculty teaching, although gathering meaningful feedback is challenging in the medical education environment. We developed the Faculty Feedback Facilitator (F3App), a mobile application that allows for real-time capture of narrative feedback by residents. The purpose of our study was to assess efficacy, usability, and acceptability of the F3App in family medicine residency programs.

Residents, faculty, and program directors (PDs) from eight residency programs participated in a beta test of the F3App from November 2017 to May 2018; participants completed pre- and postimplementation surveys about their evaluation process and the F3App. We interviewed PDs, and analyzed responses using a thematic analysis approach.

Survey results showed significant postimplementation increases in faculty agreement that accessing evaluations is easy (42%), evaluations are an effective way to communicate feedback (34%), feedback is actionable and meaningful (24%), and the current system provides meaningful data for promotion (33%). Among residents, agreement that the current system allows meaningful information sharing and is easy to use increased significantly, by 17% each. The proportion of residents agreeing they were comfortable providing constructive criticism increased significantly (22%). PDs generally reported that residents were receptive to using the F3App, found it quick and easy to use, and that feedback provided was meaningful.

Participating programs reviewed the F3App positively as a tool to gather narrative feedback from learners on faculty teaching.