Purpose
Feedback is widely regarded as a key component of learning. Feedback can identify strengths and weaknesses that guide future learning while also enhancing student motivation, self-efficacy, engagement, and reflection. This study aimed to identify the preferred qualities of feedback across various domains in the pre-clerkship phase of the medical curriculum and identify barriers to implementation.

Methods
With IRB approval, semi-structured interviews were conducted with nine preclinical students (Five MS1, Four MS2), who spoke to their experiences thus far in medical school. The interview questions focused on the qualities that make feedback either effective or ineffective, as well as different sources and forms of feedback provided in certain domains of learning. The interviews were recorded, transcribed, and compared for thematic analysis.

Results
Most students agreed that feedback must be specific and actionable to be effective. Students also desire feedback to be delivered frequently and immediately after an observation. Feedback delivered in group settings was seen as less useful than that directed at individuals. Trustworthiness of the evaluator was also identified as a critical element of effective feedback. Students expressed a desire for more feedback from expert sources (faculty), a frustration with subjective measures viewed as low-validity, and an appreciation for feedback sources who express support for and belief in students’ ability to succeed.

Conclusion
While students generally agreed on the elements that make feedback effective, some of those elements are quite challenging for faculty to implement. Providing frequent individualized faculty-driven feedback raises a concern of feasibility, as do abstract domains viewed as lacking in feedback such as professionalism and evidence-based medicine. Advanced qualities like critical thinking, motivation, and self-efficacy require the longitudinal development of trusting relationships that necessitate further time and effort commitments from faculty. One proposed solution to these challenges is that a coaching model might be optimal.