Ratings of clinical clerkship feedback by allied health faculty and students

The purpose of this survey study was to investigate allied health faculty members' and students' ratings of the clinical educational feedback process. Faculty members and students from seven allied health programs at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who were currently involved with clinical education, were asked to indicate their feelings on a seven-point scale for each of 22 feedback characteristics. An ANOVA and a Scheffe's test for post hoc analysis were used for data analyses. The results indicated that while both faculty members and students perceived eight feedback characteristics as equally important, they differed significantly (p less than .01) in their ratings of actual feedback provided in the characteristics of specific, timely, encouraging, and recommending improvement. Other significant faculty/student discrepancies were found in the area of student reception of feedback provided. The results are useful to guide and direct improvements in the clinical education of allied health students.