Beyond receiving: feedback literacy as a catalyst for resident growth, a scoping review

Feedback literacy is gaining momentum in health professions education as an important driver of learning. It involves the capacity to interpret, engage with and act on feedback in ways that promote genuine improvement. While strengthening feedback literacy could make feedback more impactful, it is unclear how effectively resident doctors use these skills in practice.

This scoping review examines the current landscape of feedback literacy skills among residents through the lens of Carless and Boud's feedback literacy framework of appreciating feedback, making judgements, managing affect and taking action. Using the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology, three databases (MEDLINE, Embase and PsychINFO) were searched for relevant peer-reviewed research studies published between 2015 and 2024. Studies were included that explored residents' feedback literacy in the context of receiving feedback from senior clinicians. Information was extracted for thematic analysis.

Of 1048 articles screened, 15 met inclusion criteria and only one was an intervention designed to enhance feedback literacy. Although residents valued feedback, their engagement with it varied widely. Few studies explored how residents judged their own performance, managed emotional responses or acted on feedback. No studies assessed the long-term impact of feedback literacy training on learning or clinical performance.

Feedback literacy offers a promising pathway to strengthen residents' capacity as purposeful, growth-oriented learners. However, meaningful progress will depend on moving beyond delivering feedback well to explicitly teaching residents how to use it.