Narrative Feedback in Faculty Development

Research on faculty development and its generalizability is lagging compared to other areas of research in medical education. Providing feedback has been identified as a skill in need of improvement for medical educators, both in the classroom and at the clinical bedside. Surprisingly, little has been published on faculty skills in providing feedback during faculty development sessions, and more specifically, providing narrative feedback. An IRB-approved study analyzed the outcomes of 73 faculty development sessions conducted within one academic year. A qualitative study of the narrative portion of end-of-session evaluations examined type and scope of narrative feedback provided to presenters about their presentation skills as well as about the perceived quality and usefulness of the faculty development sessions. The findings from this study suggest that further and more in-depth professional development in providing feedback is warranted, preferably early in faculty's professional development.