ReviewJournal of surgical education2025
Best Practices in Formative Feedback in Resident Evaluations: A Narrative Review.
Review in Journal of surgical education, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
3 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Formative feedback to improve pharmacology learning: Proposed principles and guidelines for effective practice.British journal of clinical pharmacology · 2026Guideline
- Self-directed teaching system driven by video analysis feedback improves surgical skill training for clinical interns: a randomized controlled trial.BMC medical education · 2026Trial
- Impact of Faculty and Resident Education on the Quality of Narrative Feedback in Residency: An Interventional Study.Journal of general internal medicine · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
3 authors.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundFormative feedback is essential for the optimal development of a physician. The narrative portion of the evaluation is uniquely poised to help guide the resident. However, the quality of the feedback may be highly variable, and evaluators may be hampered by both a lack of formal training as well as time pressures.
objectiveTo determine best practices in providing narrative feedback for residents.
methodsWe conducted a narrative review of the literature around formative feedback in residency using a Pubmed search of articles written in English over the 30 year span 1993-2023.
resultsSeveral themes were identified. Comments should be specific, both to the task and to the individual. Commentary should also be actionable, rather than a statement of what cannot be changed by the learner. Ideally, the narration should be constructive, and strike the proper tone. There are additional operational items, such as the structure of the evaluation form itself, that may help optimize narrative commentary.
conclusionsThere is limited but compelling evidence that narrative commentary can be improved in educational value by being specific, actionable, constructive, and written with the proper tone. Changes in the evaluation form may optimize quality and improve timing of delivery.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.