Benefits of Peer Feedback in Healthcare Education

In any education program, it’s important for students to receive feedback. While feedback from you and other faculty members is essential, peer feedback is also necessary, especially in healthcare education. Students are often collaborating and learning critical interpersonal skills to prepare them for the demanding field of healthcare. Peer-to-peer evaluations can help students gain even more valuable insight and guide their own learning process.

At DaVinci Education, our team is made up of healthcare professionals and experts who have seen firsthand the advantages of students receiving peer feedback. By evaluating one another, students gain skills that are extremely valuable in a healthcare setting because they directly influence patient outcomes. 

Peer Feedback: 

• Enhances Learning Outcomes: This feedback helps students see their work from different viewpoints. It encourages them to actively think about and evaluate their own and their peers' performance. When students get feedback from their classmates, it helps them understand the subject better and learn new ways to approach problems.

• Promotes Communication and Interpersonal Skills: Being able to communicate well and work as a team is critical in health professions. When students give feedback to each other, they learn to share their thoughts in a clear and helpful way. At the same time, they also learn how to receive feedback politely and professionally. This practice allows them to refine their interpersonal skills, such as active listening, empathy, and diplomacy—qualities that are invaluable in healthcare settings where effective communication can directly affect patient outcomes.

• Fosters Critical Thinking and Self-Reflection: Taking part in this process helps students to think deeper, evaluate evidence carefully, and make logical arguments. It also improves their skills in self-reflection and using feedback to improve their learning. 

• Builds Confidence and Empowerment: Receiving peer feedback helps students develop a sense of agency and self-efficacy. Constructive criticism from their peers helps students grow and become more confident in their abilities. This boosts their self-belief and makes the learning environment positive, where everyone is motivated to take an active role in their education. Ultimately, this confidence and self-awareness translate into competent and resilient healthcare professionals.

At DaVinci Education, we know you have one of the most important jobs—-educating our future healthcare professionals. Contact us today to learn how our enterprise software platform, Leo, can help your students improve their overall performance with peer feedback.