Using Multisource Feedback to Assess Resident Communication Skills: Adding a New Dimension to Milestone Data

Background: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) requires evaluation of residents' communication skills. These evaluations should involve assessments from a variety of persons with different perspectives and opportunities to observe resident behavior. Our objectives with this study were to determine if parents, nurses, and physicians significantly differed in their ratings of residents' communication skills; to ascertain the degree of association between these evaluations and ACGME milestone data; and to elicit feedback from residents about the specificity and usefulness of this type of evaluation compared to the evaluations they were typically provided. Methods: During the 2016-2017 academic year, parents of patients ready for discharge, nurses, and attending physicians completed evaluations of resident communication skills. A repeated measures multivariate analysis of variance compared communication skills scores across the 3 groups of raters. Resident ACGME milestone ratings for interpersonal and communication skills were correlated with the communication skills evaluations. Residents rated the specificity and usefulness of the 360-degree evaluations. Results: Parents rated residents' communication skills significantly higher than nurses and physicians rated them. We found no significant difference between the nurse and physician ratings. A significant correlation was found between resident ratings by physicians and ACGME milestone data. Residents found the feedback from these evaluations to be more specific and useful in delineating their communication strengths and weaknesses than typical milestone feedback. Conclusion: Parents added a unique perspective about residents' communication and should be included in resident evaluation when feasible. Residents appreciated the specificity and usefulness of the evaluation instrument.