A Document Analysis of Nationally Available Faculty Assessment Forms of Resident Performance

Written feedback by faculty of resident performance is valuable when it includes components based on assessment for learning. However, it is not clear how often assessment forms include these components for summative and formative feedback.

To analyze prompts used in forms for faculty assessment of resident performance, guided by best practices in survey research methodology, self-regulation theory, and competency-based assessment.

A document analysis, which is a qualitative approach used to analyze content and structure of texts, was completed on assessment forms nationally available in MedHub. Due to the number of forms available, only internal medicine and surgery specialties were included. A document summary form was created to analyze the assessments. The summary form guided researchers through the analysis.

Forty-eight forms were reviewed, each from a unique residency program. All forms provided a textbox for comments, and 54% made this textbox required for assessment completion. Eighty-three percent of assessments placed the open textbox at the end of the form. One-third of forms contained a simple prompt, "Comments," for the narrative section. Fifteen percent of forms included a box to check if the information on the form had been discussed with the resident. Fifty percent of the assessments were unclear if they were meant to be formative or summative in nature.

Our document analysis of assessment forms revealed they do not always follow best practices in survey design for narrative sections, nor do they universally address elements deemed important for promotion of self-regulation and competency-based assessment.