As you advance in your clinical journey, one day you will have students or trainees following you on their clinical rotations. Your feedback after clinical supervision will be valuable. They usually have their own standard feedback forms but whether it’s med students, student nurses, nurse practitioners, medical residents, or physician assistants – here are some points I use to provide practical & constructive feedback to discuss areas of improvement :
Knowledge Base: This is critical, this is the foundation of any medical career. This foundation needs to be solid – no compromise. The ability to come up with differential diagnoses is perhaps the most important aspect of a practical medical knowledge base
Curiosity: Medical knowledge – like our universe – is forever expanding & changing. Inquisitiveness is the magic potion that forges the mindset of a ‘forever student’. It’s easy to tell the curious ones – they ask questions that divulge how the gears in their brains are turning and seeking to keep tweaking their knowledge base.
Communication skills: I preach “Saying more with less” and encourage being concise & precise. Seek to improve their ability to communicate not just with patients but also with patient’s families, their peers & other clinical staff, consultants etc. Also included here is their ability to ‘talk the talk’ when presenting or handing off patients at shift change.
Comfort with Complex Cases: Can they break down the issues into smaller buckets? Can they connect the dots? Can they see clinical patterns?
Critical Thinking: Can they triage patients in terms of urgency? Can they come up with relevant Differential diagnoses? Can they rule out differential diagnoses logically without expensive tests? Can they use evidence-based medicine to make decisions?
Promptness: Are they prompt (aka not lazy) in doing the work you delegated or the reading you recommended? Time is often of the essence in medicine and it’s an important mindset to preach.
Ownership of patient: Do they advocate for their patients for safety, cost & quality? Do they attempt decision-making for their patient’s management?
Empathy & Humility
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