Effective Peer-Feedback as a Strategy for Formative Assessment in Medical Education

Modern medical education demands an array of new skills and competencies, necessary for quality patient care, in the always growing complexity of health care services. Traditional assessment methods have proven inadequate for the formative evaluation required at the workplace of these domains being incorporated into reforming curricula. Research by educational experts has shown effective peer feedback to be one of the adequate instruments to be used for assessment of formative nature. Numerous advantages of peer feedback have been documented in regard to competencies such as communication, professional behavior and self-reflection. Care must be taken when incorporating new educational strategies, developed in settings that differ in social and cultural contexts. Adaptations might be necessary and are done best if framed by guidelines derived from research. Collaborative construction of the instrument is desirable to enhance acceptance. Psychometric aspects of peer feedback have been demonstrated to be adequate, given enough sampling is provided.