Surgical Residents' Feedback Perceptions: A Scoping Review on Gaps and Improvements

Feedback is a pivotal instrument for learning and performance enhancement in medical and surgical training. Its established importance for resident development, aiming for highly qualified patient care, faces delivery and utilisation challenges, shifting focus to active learner reception. A critical gap exists in understanding surgical residents' perceptions of this essential process.

This study aims to systematically identify and map available data regarding surgical residents' feedback perceptions during training, thoroughly analysing findings and delineating existing knowledge gaps.

Following the Arksey and O'Malley and JBI methodology, a comprehensive search across Medline, Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), Directory of Open Access Scholarly Resources (ROAD), Academic Search Premier (ASP), BioMed Central Open Access (BMC) and Wiley-Blackwell (Wiley) included studies on surgical residents' feedback perceptions (attitudes, experiences, values, beliefs, satisfaction and reported impact). Data charting involved both quantitative and qualitative analyses.

Twelve articles (2017-2024), predominantly United States-based, were included. Residents consistently valued feedback for development and confidence, preferring immediate, verbal and face-to-face delivery, ideally during or directly following a procedure. Common concerns included low frequency, lack of specificity or explicit labelling and delayed provision leading to perceived irrelevance. Influential factors encompassed timing, the learning environment, source credibility (senior residents often preferred) and preceptor personal traits. Critically, the direct impact on learning progress and skill development was often underexamined.

The current evidence based on surgical residents' feedback perceptions is limited by methodological heterogeneity, reliance on retrospective designs and insufficient direct measurement of its actual impact. Resident-preceptor perception discrepancies persist, alongside inadequate detail on feedback characteristics. Thus, standardised, comprehensive and impact-focused research is critically needed to enhance surgical training feedback practices, ultimately contributing to improved patient care.

Not applicable.