Evaluation strategies selected by residents: The roles of self‐assessment, training level, and sex

Thirty internal medicine residents, 10 from each of 3 years, participated in standardized patient interviews. They selected from 17 strategies the way they would like to receive evaluation/feedback about their performances. Eighty percent selected as their primary choice a highly diagnostic strategy—a trend more likely in women. Women also were more likely to select multiple strategies using themselves as evaluators. There was no association of choice with year, initial self‐rating, or desire for ranking versus objective score rating performance. The results support the idea that residents, regardless of level of confidence in their abilities, seek informative feedback even when it could be avoided.