Evaluation of Lecturer’s Feedback in Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise Assessment (Mini-CEX)

Many educators adopt feedback models from articles and books which contain various feedback strategies rather than depending on their own experiences. Mini Clinical Evaluation Exercise (Mini- CEX) is a Workplace-Based Assessment (WPBA) that requires the examiner to observe the student performing a focused task within 15–20 minutes at the clinic or ward with compulsory immediate feedback. The aim of this study is to identify the feedback strategies adopted by family physician lecturers during the feedback session at the end of the Mini-CEX assessment. A qualitative methodology using indirect observation was adopted for this cross-sectional study. Thirty-three Mini- CEX feedback sessions were selected using a purposive sampling involving 33 Final Year Medical Students and 14 Family Physician lecturers at the Department of Family Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. The feedback sessions were audio-recorded, transcribed and analysed using content analysis. Results showed eight feedback strategies were adopted in the feedback sessions. The majority of the feedback sessions were conducted in a dialogic approach through self- reflection (96.7%). However, the students’ contribution was minimal in student’s plan for improvement (36.3%) and self-scoring (39.4%). About 90.9% of the students were also praised on their correct performance and received plan for improvement. From 60.6% of the candidates who were informed of their final scores, 45.4% of the scores were justified; and 24.2% of the students were offered to ask questions during the feedback session. More exposure to various feedback strategies may provide better advantage for the students to monitor and improve their level of achievement. Adopting a dialogic feedback approach is crucial to encourage a sense of belonging in the process of feedback.