In this episode, I’ll discuss 10 tips for providing effective feedback to PGY-1 residents.
- When providing feedback, choose a location where both parties will be comfortable openly speaking. This may be done on the unit as long as others are not actively listening, but be especially sensitive to giving feedback to residents in front of students they are co-precepting.
- Feedback must be timely for it to be effective, so do not delay in addressing things even if it seems uncomfortable. Bad practices will only get worse, or the feedback will come too late to reinforce good practices, neither of which is helpful to the resident.
- Provide feedback based on what you have directly observed rather than on second-hand information.
- Make the feedback conversational in nature.
- Take care to use non-judgmental verbal and body language. For example, avoid words like “obviously” or starting a sentence with “You” and avoid crossing arms or rolling eyes when giving feedback.
- Whenever possible, bring the feedback back to the goals of your learning experience. If you are struggling to find points to give feedback on, use your learning experience goals as a template.
- Providing feedback does not always need to be a long or formal process – frequent, short feedback sessions can be extremely meaningful.
- If you are having trouble finding the time to provide feedback, block a specific time out in your schedule for it.
- Be specific, not general in your feedback. This means avoiding only saying things like “you work hard” or “it is a pleasure to have you on rotation” or “you’re doing great.”
- Reflect on different feedback styles such as those described by Hewson, Pendelton, the “sandwich,” and the 1-minute preceptor. Then develop your own style and, if possible, tailor it to your resident’s personality.
Members of my Hospital Pharmacy Academy have access to practical, in-depth preceptor development trainings in video and audio format including Providing Feedback to Pharmacy Residents, Designing and Implementing a PGY-1 Rotation Experience, Understanding and Fulfilling ASHP Accreditation Requirements for Residency Preceptors, Precepting Pearls for Residency Projects, and Incorporating Residents Into Your Practice. To get immediate access to these and more practical resources to help you in your practice go to pharmacyjoe.com/academy.
If you like this post, check out my book – A Pharmacist’s Guide to Inpatient Medical Emergencies: How to respond to code blue, rapid response calls, and other medical emergencies.
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