“Playing in the Big Leagues Now”: Exploring Feedback Receptivity During the Transition to Residency

Abstract

Introduction

Learners’ perceptions of feedback can significantly undermine its impact. Consequently, some feedback has been known to fall on deaf ears. At times when stress is heightened, however, feedback may hold value for both learning purposes and reassurance. Because stress and uncertainty are intensified during the steep transition from medical school to residency, we aimed to explore new residents’ receptivity to feedback and the characteristics of feedback that could optimise it at this stage in their training.

Material and methods

Nine residents who were two to three months along in a residency program were recruited through voluntary sampling, then met individually for a semi-structured interview. Qualitative analysis of these interviews was conducted to explore new residents’ perception of their new context and their experiences with feedback, using a constructivist approach. Emerging themes and categories were developed inductively.

Results

Insights gained from our participants’ perspectives suggest that common circumstantial factors prompt novice residents to seek more guidance through feedback. In this study, novice residents were most receptive to feedback when its content was practical and aligned with residents’ personal objectives, when it was coherent with previous feedback and when it was discussed one-on-one in a setting which the resident considered safe. Participants expressed a need for more feedback on specific topics such as medical knowledge, clinical reasoning, prescribing, prioritizing, managing critically ill patients and dealing with increased anxiety.

Conclusion

Medical teachers should be mindful of learners’ increased anxiety and uncertainty during the transition from medical school to postgraduate training, because more guidance may be needed during this period, including through feedback. Future research is needed to determine how this teaching momentum can best be utilized.