As educators, we are constantly being asked to complete evaluation forms for medical students and residents. Most are in the form of formative evaluations. That means that you are giving the learner frequent feedback (like a coach) so that they can do better in the immediate future. This is in contrast to summative evaluations, which are conducted for the purposes of "grading" the learner.
More and more institutions are moving towards a daily post-shift evaluation of medical students and residents rotating in the Emergency Department. This is often done online. There are pros and cons for having the evaluations be anonymous.
PROS (for anonymity)- Faculty may avoid giving negative feedback to learners for fear of awkward interactions on future ED shifts.With anonymous evaluations, faculty may feel more comfortable giving constructive criticism.
- If faculty avoid giving constructive criticisms (or at least very watered down) in non-anonymous evaluations, problem issues may go undetected longer because no one comments on them.
CONS (against anonymity)- Medical trainees are adult learners and should be adult enough to hear direct feedback.
- Knowing who the evaluation is from allows for more direct discussion of specific cases or scenarios.
What do you think should be done?
Comments are welcome to explain your reasoning from the perspective of a learner or educator.
