Characterizing Attending Feedback Styles in General Surgery: A Residency-Wide Survey and Needs Assessment.

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

1-10-2026

Publication Title

Journal of surgical education

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To characterize the intraoperative feedback styles of general surgery attendings using a resident-facing assessment tool grounded in the "debriefing with good judgment" framework, and to evaluate associations between feedback style and faculty characteristics.

DESIGN: Cross-sectional survey study employing a needs assessment approach and incorporating structured resident education on feedback theory prior to survey administration.

SETTING: A general surgery residency program at a university affiliated teaching hospital.

PARTICIPANTS: Forty General surgery residents (PGY1-6) were surveyed for perceived intraoperative feedback styles of individual attending surgeons.

RESULTS: About 80% of residents (33/41) completed evaluations of 42 attendings. Most attendings (95.3%) were perceived to use more than 1 feedback style. While 51.9% of total feedback interactions were categorized as effective (good judgment), 85.7% of attendings delivered ≥25% ineffective feedback (judgmental or nonjudgmental). Male attendings were significantly more likely to deliver effective feedback compared to female attendings (U = 0.5, p < 0.001), and thoracic surgeons were less likely to provide effective feedback (OR = 0.55, p = 0.033). Faculty with ≥20 years of clinical experience were significantly more likely to deliver effective feedback (OR = 1.50, p = 0.037). No gender-based differences were found among residents in their perception of feedback.

CONCLUSION: Intraoperative feedback was frequently ineffective, with differences by attending gender, subspecialty, and seniority. These patterns indicate that feedback delivery may be a modifiable, teachable skill shaped by experience and context, emphasizing faculty development and sustained engagement as critical avenues to strengthen the culture and quality of surgical education.

Volume

83

Issue

3

First Page

103835

DOI

10.1016/j.jsurg.2025.103835

ISSN

1878-7452

PubMed ID

41520490

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