An Extended Validity Argument for Assessing Feedback Culture

Working together: Factors affecting the relationship between leadership and job satisfaction in Iranian HR departments

Implementation of human resource management (HRM) practices in Iran has been patchy and unenthusiastic despite them having been found to be beneficial in Western countries. To investigate this problem, survey data were gathered from 63 private sector organizations in Iran, producing 325 usable responses, and were analysed using structural equation modelling. Our findings unexpectedly show that transactional leadership had a similar impact on balanced organizational culture to transformational leadership. Also, no relationship was found between balanced organizational culture and team working, or between team working and job satisfaction, which contradicts previous research. We argue that, in HR departments in Iran, culturally generated attitudes towards aspects of HRM itself may produce low job satisfaction, and thus may compromise the implementation of HRM practices. We also argue that, since the cultural conditions that create these anomalies are common to other Middle Eastern and Southern Asian countries, our results can be generalized to these regions. Based on these findings, recommendations are made for practitioners.

The interplay between residency program culture and feedback culture: a cross-sectional study exploring perceptions of residents at three institutions

BACKGROUND

Giving and receiving feedback that changes performance is influenced significantly by the clinical learning environment. This environment is multi-dimensional but includes both organizational and feedback specific dimensions.

OBJECTIVE

The objectives of this research were to investigate the relationship between residents' perceptions of residency program culture and feedback culture; and whether there were differences in resident perceptions of their programs' and feedback cultures based on their disciplines and institution. We hypothesized that residents preferred certain program culture types and that certain aspects of a residency program's culture were related to the feedback culture.

DESIGN

Residents from six specialties at three institutions voluntarily completed two validated survey instruments (Organizational Culture Assessment Instrument [OCAI] and Feedback in Medical Education [FEEDME]-Culture survey) to assess the residency program and feedback cultures, respectively. Descriptive statistics were calculated and non-parametric tests were used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

The overall response rate was 37.9% (116/306 residents). 'Clan' culture was both the current and preferred culture by 49.3% and 56.8%, respectively, of the residents overall. There were differences across programs with more current 'clan' culture in pediatrics than in surgery (P = 0.01). Multiple regression analysis showed the Hierarchy Now culture type was significantly related to the feedback culture mean score (p = <.01). For every one unit increase in the Hierarchy Now culture type, the FEEDME-Culture mean score decreases by 0.023 units.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings of this study add to the literature by describing residents' preferences of their residency program's culture, and providing insights into the interplay between the residency program and feedback cultures.

Guidelines: The dos, don'ts and don't knows of remediation in medical education

INTRODUCTION

Two developing forces have achieved prominence in medical education: the advent of competency-based assessments and a growing commitment to expand access to medicine for a broader range of learners with a wider array of preparation. Remediation is intended to support all learners to achieve sufficient competence. Therefore, it is timely to provide practical guidelines for remediation in medical education that clarify best practices, practices to avoid, and areas requiring further research, in order to guide work with both individual struggling learners and development of training program policies.

METHODS

Collectively, we generated an initial list of Do's, Don'ts, and Don't Knows for remediation in medical education, which was then iteratively refined through discussions and additional evidence-gathering. The final guidelines were then graded for the strength of the evidence by consensus.

RESULTS

We present 26 guidelines: two groupings of Do's (systems-level interventions and recommendations for individual learners), along with short lists of Don'ts and Don't Knows, and our interpretation of the strength of current evidence for each guideline.

CONCLUSIONS

Remediation is a high-stakes, highly complex process involving learners, faculty, systems, and societal factors. Our synthesis resulted in a list of guidelines that summarize the current state of educational theory and empirical evidence that can improve remediation processes at individual and institutional levels. Important unanswered questions remain; ongoing research can further improve remediation practices to ensure the appropriate support for learners, institutions, and society.

The Organizational Culture of a Major Social Work Institution in Romania: A Sociological Analysis

This study aims to document the specific organizational culture existing in the General Directorate for Social Work and Child Protection (DGASPC) in the Gorj county, Romania. This is a major social work institution in Romania, but one which (like most other social work institutions in this country) have rarely been subject to the type of sociological research as the one reported in this article. The present analysis can help leaders in this organization and other similar organizations to assess and improve the cultural aspects that can influence the achievement of objectives, as well as the quality of the social services provided to service users. Our study has included 286 participants that hold various positions at DGASPC Gorj (social workers, psychologists, and educators). The chosen investigative instrument is the organizational culture assessment instrument (OCAI), a questionnaire designed to interpret organizational phenomena, developed by Cameron and Quinn and based on the conceptual framework of the “competing values framework”. The authors have identified four types of culture (clan, adhocracy, hierarchy, and market culture) and the tool allows an analysis of organizational culture based on the employees’ perception of the existing culture as well as also on their preferences regarding the way they would like to change the organizational culture in the future. The results show that the dominant culture is the hierarchy culture, closely followed by elements of clan culture. Other cultural dimensions are also explored and reported (leadership, success criteria, etc.).

Feedback for Learners in Medical Education: What Is Known? A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

To conduct a scoping review of the literature on feedback for learners in medical education.

METHOD

In 2015-2016, the authors searched the Ovid MEDLINE, ERIC, CINAHL, ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global, Web of Science, and Scopus databases and seven medical education journals (via OvidSP) for articles published January 1980-December 2015. Two reviewers screened articles for eligibility with inclusion criteria. All authors extracted key data and analyzed data descriptively.

RESULTS

The authors included 650 articles in the review. More than half (n = 341) were published during 2010-2015. Many centered on medical students (n = 274) or residents (n = 192); some included learners from other disciplines (n = 57). Most (n = 633) described methods used for giving feedback; some (n = 95) described opinions and recommendations regarding feedback. Few studies assessed approaches to feedback with randomized, educational trials (n = 49) or described changes in learner behavior after feedback (n = 49). Even fewer assessed the impact of feedback on patient outcomes (n = 28).

CONCLUSIONS

Feedback is considered an important means of improving learner performance, as evidenced by the number of articles outlining recommendations for feedback approaches. The literature on feedback for learners in medical education is broad, fairly recent, and generally describes new or altered curricular approaches that involve feedback for learners. High-quality, evidence-based recommendations for feedback are lacking. In addition to highlighting calls to reassess the concepts and complex nature of feedback interactions, the authors identify several areas that require further investigation.