From Their Eyes: What Constitutes Effective Formative Written Feedback for Neurosurgery Residents

Abstract

Background: The characteristics of quality feedback from the neurosurgery residents perspective are not fully elucidated. The Surgical Autonomy Program (SAP) is an intraoperative assessment tool based on Vygotsky's Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). SAP facilitates assessment of a residents operative performance accompanied by written feedback. Objective: The goal of this study was twofold: identify themes within written feedback from the operating room and examine if these themes influenced the neurosurgery residents perception of feedback quality. Methods: In 2021, SAP data from 2019-2021 at two neurosurgery programs were reviewed. Feedback quality from the SAP was determined by the resident at the time of their assessment. Using a constant comparative technique, the feedback was coded using a thematic analysis. The quality of feedback within each code was analyzed. Results: There were 2968 SAP entries evaluated. When the ZPD concept was fully used, residents reported high quality feedback 91.4% of the time compared to 58.6% when ZPD was not used (p<0.001). Qualitative analysis of the written feedback revealed 5 themes: Non-Specific, Specific General Observations, Key Points, Next Steps, and Independent Practice. Feedback in the Specific General Observations, Key Points, and Independent Practice categories were associated with higher level feedback than leaving the space blank (p<0.001) or writing Non-Specific comments (p<0.001). Conclusions: Providing comments that discuss the residents specific performance in the case, key learning points, or their progress towards independence, results in high quality feedback. Utilizing a theory-based tool such as the SAP can provide meaningful feedback to neurosurgical residents.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Mar 14, 2022
Accession Number
AD1212242

Entities

People

  • Chris J. Neal

Organizations

  • Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

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DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Abstracts
  • Department Of Defense
  • Education
  • General Surgery
  • Health
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  • Institutional Review Board
  • Learning
  • Medical Personnel
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  • Mental Processes
  • Military Medicine
  • Perception
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  • Medicine

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