In Pursuit of the Most Effective Method of Teaching Feedback Skills to Emergency Medicine Residents in Qatar: A Mixed Design

Abstract

Purpose The study aimed to find an effective method of teaching feedback skills to residents and to gauge their preference. Method This was a mixed design study conducted at the emergency department of a large tertiary care hospital. The residents were randomized to groups A, B, and C. Group A (control) received a traditional lecture, Group B read a specifically written brief document, and Group C received 1:1 tutoring from one faculty. Each resident individually watched a four-minute video on an emergency procedure and provided feedback in simulated settings, which was audio-recorded and rated by two blinded raters. An assessment form was created and validated. The residents' preference was attained through a semi-structured interview. Results The baseline characteristics of the three groups were similar. Compared to Group A, Groups B and C scored significantly higher on the overall assessment and were statistically similar to each other. There was no sign of association between both gender and postgraduate score (PGY) year on the total score. Residents' equally preferred self-reading and 1:1 tutoring. Conclusion The acquisition of feedback skills by emergency medicine (EM) residents was comparable between self-learning from an appropriately written document and 1:1 teaching by adequately trained faculty.