Feedback Quality in an Aligned Teacher-Training Program

Residents as teachers (RAT) and medical students as teachers (MSAT) programs are important for the development of future physicians. In 2010, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine (NUFSM) aligned RAT and MSAT programs, which created experiential learning opportunities in teaching and feedback across the graduate and undergraduate medical education continuum. The purpose of this study was to provide a curricular overview of the aligned program and to evaluate early outcomes through analysis of narrative feedback quality and participant satisfaction.

Program evaluation occurred through analysis of written feedback quality provided within the aligned program and postparticipation satisfaction surveys. A total of 445 resident feedback narratives were collected from 2013 to 2016. We developed a quality coding scheme using an operational definition of feedback. After independent coding of feedback quality, an expert panel established coding consensus. We evaluated program satisfaction and perceived importance through posttraining surveys in residents and fourth-year medical students (M4s).

Seventy-nine residents participated in the aligned program and provided high-quality feedback with a relative quality rating of 2.71 (scale 0-3). Consistently high-quality written feedback was provided over the duration of the program and regardless of years of resident participation. Posttraining surveys demonstrated high levels of satisfaction and perceived importance of the program to both residents and M4s.

The aligned RAT and MSAT program across the medical education continuum provided experiential learning opportunities for future physician educators with evidence of high-quality written feedback to learners and program satisfaction.