This scoping review explores how feedback processes are designed and organized in undergraduate clinical workplace-based learning environments. Recognizing that feedback plays a critical role in guiding learners toward improvement and professional development, this study aimed to map the range and nature of evidence on feedback practices in clinical education, with a particular focus on sociocultural dimensions. A search was conducted across seven major databases and ten key medical education journals. After a screening process supported by the StArt program, 61 studies were included from an initial pool of 4,877. A thematic analysis was carried out using a feedback loop model with a sociocultural lens as the guiding framework.
Two themes were identified in the qualitative analysis: the organization of the feedback processes in workplace-based learning environments and sociocultural factors influencing the organization of feedback processes. The literature describes multiple feedback strategies that generate feedback information. Most papers described experiences and perceptions, without establishing what strategies work to use feedback to improve performance. Sociocultural factors such as establishing a feedback culture, enabling stable and trustworthy relationships, and enhancing student feedback agency are crucial for productive feedback processes.
The attached files are the code list used for the thematic analysis and the full dataset of the included studies in the scoping review.