Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 8, 2026
Translational Brain Mapping at the University of Rochester Medical Center: Preserving the Mind Through Personalized Brain Mapping
Published on: August 12, 2019
Examining the Quality and Quantity of Verbal Feedback in the Operating Room: A Multi-Specialty Study in a Canadian
Rachael Allen1, Ingrid de Vries2, Tianna M M Murray3
1School of Medicine, Faculty of Health Sciences, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Objective:
To investigate (1) the quantity and quality of verbal feedback provided to residents in surgery and anesthesiology in the operating room (OR), (2) the relationship between provided verbal feedback and assigned entrustment scores; and (3) residents' perceptions of usefulness of verbal feedback they received in the OR for a specific entrustable professional activity (EPA).
Design:
This was a prospective observational study.
Setting:
An academic tertiary care hospital in Kingston, Ontario, Canada.
Participants:
Twenty residents (8 anesthesiology, 8 general surgery, 4 orthopedic surgery) and 23 attending physicians (11 anesthesiology, 9 general surgery, 3 orthopedic surgery) from Kingston Health Sciences Centre participated voluntarily. Participants were recruited using convenience sampling and no compensation was provided.
Results:
We recorded 1180 verbal feedback events across 122 hours of OR interactions for 50 attending physician-resident dyads. Verbal feedback events focused predominantly on analyzing performance (57%) and fostering learner agency (20%). Verbal feedback was rated by residents as "extremely useful" or "very useful" over 70% of the time. Verbal feedback events that addressed a greater number of FQI domains were perceived to be more useful by residents. There were no significant correlations between verbal feedback event quantity or quality and entrustment scores on EPAs.
Conclusion:
Attending physicians frequently provide residents with verbal feedback on their performance in the OR; however, the quality of this feedback is variable. Future research should focus on developing strategies to capture and utilize verbal feedback as assessment for learning within CBME.
Related Concept Videos
01:26Types of Reports III: Telephone and Verbal Reports
Here's an overview of each type:
Telephone Orders
01:21Barriers to Effective Communication II
Cultural barriers:
Differences in values, beliefs, religion, knowledge, and tradition can significantly impact communication. Awareness of nonverbal cues is critical, especially when conversing with a patient from a different culture. What appears appropriate in one culture may be inappropriate in another.
Semantic barriers:
As a result of their tendency to use...
01:14SBAR II: Application of SBAR
SBAR Report from a Nurse to a Health Care Provider
S: "Hello, Dr. Smith. This is Jane, RN, from the Med Surg unit. I am calling to tell you about Ms. White in Room 210, who is experiencing increased pain and redness at her incision site. Her recent...
01:29SBAR I: Understanding the Concept
Standardized methods of communication have been developed to ensure that information is...
01:29Assessment of Ventilation II: Respiratory Depth and Rhythm
Respiratory depth measures the volume of air inhaled or exhaled during a breath. It can vary from shallow to deep and typically remains consistent when a person is at rest or asleep. Occasionally, individuals will automatically inhale deeply, known as sighing, which inflates the lungs with more air than normal breathing.
To assess respiratory depth, observe the degree of chest excursion or movement:
01:24Effects of feedback
Feedback significantly modifies the gain of a control system. The gain of a system without feedback is altered by a factor of one plus GH, where G represents...