title: Feedback data sources that inform physician self-assessment.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Self-assessment is a process of interpreting data about one's performance and comparing it to explicit or implicit standards.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To examine the external data sources physicians used to monitor themselves.
  
  
  METHODS
  Focus groups were conducted with physicians who participated in three practice improvement activities: a multisource feedback program; a program providing patient and chart audit data; and practice-based learning groups. We used grounded theory strategies to understand the external sources that stimulated self-assessment and how they worked.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Data from seven focus groups (49 physicians) were analyzed. Physicians used information from structured programs, other educational activities, professional colleagues, and patients. Data were of varying quality, often from non-formal sources with implicit (not explicit) standards. Mandatory programs elicited variable responses, whereas data and activities the physicians selected themselves were more likely to be accepted. Physicians used the information to create a reference point against which they could weigh their performance using it variably depending on their personal interpretation of its accuracy, application, and utility.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Physicians use and interpret data and standards of varying quality to inform self-assessment. Physicians may benefit from regular and routine feedback and guidance on how to seek out data for self-assessment.
authors.affiliation: Continuing Medical Education and Professional Development, University of Calgary, Canada. lockyer@ucalgary.ca
authors.forename: Jocelyn
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lockyer
authors.forename: Heather
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Armson
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Chesluk
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Dornan
authors.forename: Eric
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Holmboe
authors.forename: Elaine
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Loney
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mann
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sargeant
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D004502:Education, Medical, Continuing / Q000379:methods*; D005246:Feedback; D017144:Focus Groups; D006801:Humans; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D007858:Learning; D010379:Peer Group; D010820:Physicians; D012655:Self-Evaluation Programs / Q000379:methods*