Self and peer feedback engagement and receptivity among medical students with varied academic performance in the clinical skills laboratory

Medical students benefit from direct observation of clinical performance and timely feedback from multiple sources. While self and peer feedback have been the focus of numerous research studies, how they influence feedback engagement and receptivity in medical students of varying achievement levels in the clinical skills laboratory setting remains relatively unexplored. We conducted an exploratory qualitative study to investigate students' engagement and receptivity to self and peer feedback across academic performance levels at a medical teaching institution. Data from five focus groups with third-year medical students(n = 25) were thematically analysed. The ways in which low and high performing students engaged with self-assessment and peer feedback were divided into three categories: affective (or interpersonal), orientational, and transformational. Lower achievers believed they lacked the necessary skills to effectively engage in self and peer feedback interventions, but they agreed with higher achievers who recognized that peer feedback combined with prior knowledge of learning objectives allowed them to take ownership of monitoring their own development over time. Learners' emotional maturity in response to feedback ratings and feedback from activities testing clinical cognition had an impact on self-regulated learning. Creating a trusting environment is critical for improving the acceptability of peer feedback. It is also critical to provide multiple opportunities for self-assessment in order to improve one's judgment. Giving learners the ability to actively seek and engage with feedback encourages participation in the feedback cycle, focusing on self-regulation rather than reliance on feedback providers. Feedback and action plan development can be improved by teaching students how to understand criticism, manage emotions constructively, and practice developing evaluative judgment and self-regulation skills. Based on the study findings an integrated three stage training model is recommended for effective self- and peer feedback practice for undergraduate medical education.