Assessing interprofessional collaboration: pilot of an interprofessional feedback survey for first-year medical students

Abstract Purpose Most medical students graduate without receiving feedback from a non-physician – a missed opportunity given the important role that interprofessional (IP) feedback plays in helping students develop IP competencies and increasingly IP clinical settings. To address this gap, we piloted a two-item, open-ended IP feedback survey for medical students. Methods We required 152 first-year medical students enrolled in a 15-month longitudinal clinical placement to request IP feedback twice. We used directed content analysis to examine feedback for quality (behavioral-orientation, specificity, valence, actionability) and content relevant to IP competencies. We then interviewed 14 students about their perceived usefulness of the feedback. Results The majority of feedback comments (85%) were behavior-oriented. Thirty-four percent of comments were constructive, of which 43% contained a specific strategy for improvement. Comments spanned the range of IP competency domains. Perceived usefulness was hindered by lack of student relationships with IP providers. Conclusions IP providers wrote specific, behavior-oriented feedback on collaboration skills that was comparable in quality to typical feedback in health professions education. However, limitedstudent-provider relationships and perceived constructive feedback influenced student perceptions of its usefulness. To maximize usefulness of IP feedback, IP educational experiences should be designed to maximize frequency and depth of IP interactions, students should receive guidance on who to approach for IP feedback, and IP feedback should be reviewed with a faculty member.