Background: General surgery residents report insufficient feedback and desire more frequent, structured, and timely feedback. Entrustable professional activities (EPAs) enable more immediate and frequent feedback through microassessments (MAs). We examined whether resident satisfaction with feedback is associated with frequency of EPA MAs received. Study Design: In January 2025, residents completed a post-in-training exam survey about feedback and EPA perceptions. Residents reported the frequency of real-time feedback and EPA MAs, as well as satisfaction with feedback quantity on their best and worst rotations. Multivariable analyses evaluated associations between EPA MA frequency and satisfaction. Results: Of 10,404 examinees, 82% (n=8,545) participated, and 74.4% reported receiving at least one EPA MA per rotation. Across rotations, higher EPA MA frequency was associated with greater feedback satisfaction (p50% if they received at least 1 EPA MA per rotation. Conclusions: Resident satisfaction with feedback is positively associated with more frequent self-reported EPA MAs, particularly if they receive at least 1 per week. On their worst rotations, when residents are not getting alternative forms of feedback, receiving EPA MAs is associated with improved feedback satisfaction.
Diaconescu et al. (2026) studied this question.