Feedback in Medical School..

[med.goals]

I got feedback from one of my staff that I am hard to read. What does it mean to be hard to read? And how can you be easier to read?

[Jarisch]

I find that feedback hard to read! I would have clarified with them. Targeted, actionable feedback is what is helpful. Hard to read could mean a 100 different things. 

[robclem21]

I think it just means you are not showing enough consistency to be evaluated effectively. It may mean that your staff is unsure if you're interested/disinterested, strong/weak in your clinical assessments, knowedgable or not, etc. I have definitely had medical students who fit that description and although I've never said "they are hard to read" to them as feedback, I definitely understand the sentiment. Sometimes you also just get feelings about someone that are tough to put into words, but they aren't really giving any strong positive/negative vibes, but often some elements of both.

Sometimes it is just a conflicting personality thing with your staff, but I think if getting this feedback, you don't need to think too much about it. You should try to make yourself a bit more visible in the clinical environment and act more interested in your work and cases.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with this.

[med.goals]

3 hours ago, robclem21 said:

I think it just means you are not showing enough consistency to be evaluated effectively. It may mean that your staff is unsure if you're interested/disinterested, strong/weak in your clinical assessments, knowedgable or not, etc. I have definitely had medical students who fit that description and although I've never said "they are hard to read" to them as feedback, I definitely understand the sentiment. Sometimes you also just get feelings about someone that are tough to put into words, but they aren't really giving any strong positive/negative vibes, but often some elements of both.

Sometimes it is just a conflicting personality thing with your staff, but I think if getting this feedback, you don't need to think too much about it. You should try to make yourself a bit more visible in the clinical environment and act more interested in your work and cases.

I wouldn't be overly concerned with this.

hmmm ... they said that I have excellent knowledge and they think I would be great clinician and I am always a very intellectually curious person and I am hard working but I can be "hard to read".. and then they proceeded to ask if l like what I do... I think they were questioning my interest in the subject matter. I think I have a problem looking interested at rounds when they last several hours - I think my attention span is usually quite short and I can get bored easily ( and I am also a bit introverted so sometimes I can also be a bit in my head in clinical settings). I also tend to think of things fast - so sometimes I feel that MTU is very slow, especially during rounds.  I also don't try to show off my knowledge, or go the extra mile to take cases, etc but when asked to do things, I usually do them or when you specifically ask me questions - I'd explain my thought process.. How does one act a bit more visible and act interested when on baseline I don't like to not be very visible. 

 

[robclem21]

4 hours ago, med.goals said:

I also don't try to show off my knowledge, or go the extra mile to take cases, etc but when asked to do things, I usually do them or when you specifically ask me questions - I'd explain my thought process.. How does one act a bit more visible and act interested when on baseline I don't like to not be very visible. 

^^ This. You look interested by taking initiative, going the extra mile, doing things without being asked. You don't have to show off your knowledge, but asking lots of good, insightful questions on rounds and when discussing cases. Show that you care and want to learn. When it comes to CaRMS and reference letters, this is what people are looking for. Anyone can do the bare minimum and follow instructions, but thats not the standard you should set for yourself. Excellent knowledge and good clinician isn't always enough.

[shikimate]

Haha you know what what they call MTU/CTU rounds? -> Shifting dullness.

I once got flack from some IM resident for writing A/O AVSS CCM as progress note lol.

[rmorelan]

ha, giving good feedback is hard and I wouldn't say that is great work by the evaluator- but it is harder when you don't take steps to stand out a bit. It could be that the staff didn't really have anything in particular to say about you because there wasn't anything memorable to comment on. In some ways clerkship is a year long interview process, and if you want to do well in an interview you do have to stand out a bit. Not that doing so is always easy for some people, or that you have to do it for every rotation but you don't want to be stuck trying to get reference letters in the end where no one has much to say about you. 

[MDee2B]

17 hours ago, med.goals said:

they said that I have excellent knowledge and they think I would be great clinician and I am always a very intellectually curious person and I am hard working but I can be "hard to read"

is it just me but are you maybe overlooking the positives here?

the staff gave you 4 very strong positive feedback points, and 1 ambiguous comment that maybe skews slightly negative?

I mean, of course you always want to find ways to improve, but based on what u said it seems like you're actually doing great and overall getting excellent feedback.

maybe too much focus is being given to the last part, whereas the bulk of the feedback was extremely positive and deserves more attention.