Beyond the Grade: Exploring Written Feedback in a Pediatric Clerkship

The language within the feedback comments showed partial alignment to best practices for feedback, particularly with a focus on observable physician and learner behaviors. In addition to the professional characteristics, knowledge, and skills all doctors must develop, this study's themes also suggested a process of expected acculturation to the military system and ethos. Less productive comments regarding personal traits, general praise, and depersonalized critical feedback were still prevalent. The apparent ineffectiveness of current strategies suggests exploration of novel approaches, such as artificial intelligence (AI), to enhance the language used in feedback.