Table 2.

Themes and major subthemes with supporting quotes for the teacher-level facilitators and barriers for the provision of feedback to their students (n=40)

Themes identified		Major subthemes		Participant ID		Participant quotes supporting the theme and subtheme
Teacher-level facilitators for giving feedback (teacher attributes)
Knowledge and motivation		Awareness		T29F T23M		“You cannot give feedback if you aren’t aware of its necessity” “For doing this (giving feedback), we need to be updated on the correct methods and techniques of providing effective feedback”
		Beneficence		T15M T12F T26M		“Giving feedback to students doesn’t have to be only after their exams but ongoing feedback even through our daily routines proves to be useful in improving their learning and performance” “Feedback not only helps them learn better but also changes the ways in which their personality is shaped” “Not only does it (feedback) help with studies but also brings about an overall development of their value ecosystem and can be utilized to impart AETCOM skills to the students”
		Improve performance		T17F T23M		“I have seen dramatic improvement in the performance of students when they receive timely and appropriate feedback” “Once you provide the specific feedback based on their performance, they are willing to improve themselves and do it a whole lot better afterwards”
Good rapport with students		Approachable		T12F T38F T21M		“Students being able to reach you and discuss their problems makes giving them feedback all the more easier” “Unless you build the confidence in your students that you can be approached for any of their problems, they will not be willing to reach you to share their difficulties or get feedback from you” “The mentorship program ‘Anubandh’ at our institute is a very good platform for students to approach the teachers and the teachers as mentors are in a position to give effective feedback for enhancing their performance”
		Non-judgmental		T15F T08M		“The cardinal rule is not to judge them if they are willing to share regarding their performance with you as judging them will further close the doors and they will not be receptive to what you have to offer them” “Many a times students prefer to be listened to without being judged and this gives us an opportunity to share our own expectations about their learning and performance with them”
		Recognized mentor (popular among students)		T01F T20F		“It’s not difficult (to give feedback) if you are popular among the students as they will themselves come to you for it” “Most of the students have a goto mentor whom they are associated with through participation in certain activities guided by them, mostly extracurricular like sports or annual events”
Teacher-level barriers for giving feedback
Clear guidelines		Curricular guidelines are not available		T03M T09F		“The present curriculum has no clear directives for feedback and the guidelines to do the same” “The new CBME curriculum has elaborated on the assessment part adequately, however the details about feedback and how it is to be delivered are sadly missing”
Unfamiliar with FB processes		Mechanisms		T24F		“For years together, I was giving feedback in my own ways, getting to know the mechanisms for giving it has helped a lot”
		Processes		T37F T01F		“When I attended the MET workshop, that was the first time I came across so many ways in which feedback could be given constructively otherwise I was still following the traditional way learnt from our ancient mentors” “Earlier we were unaware but nowadays, it has become very easy to provide feedback using the structured processes developed for it”
Fear of affective responses from students		Feeling insulted		T22F T39M		“Today’s children lack tolerance towards criticism even if given in a positive manner, so it has to be done very cautiously” “The student’s may feel offended if you tell them regarding their poor performance and need for doing better”
		Insecure		T17F T34M		“One thing that sometimes deters us from giving feedback to them is also the fact that we do not wish to be seen in bad light by our students” “You need to be cautious of how you explain them regarding their performance as offending them would ruin your image”
		Guilt		T11F		“The method adopted for providing feedback has to be selected cautiously, even choosing the words wisely helps to boost their morale rather than making them feel guilty about their performance”
		Depressed		T02M T40F		“Some of the sensitive students can be further depressed if they are harshly reprimanded regarding their poor performance” “Moreover, the students of the present generation are very pampered at their homes and cannot be approached strictly for the fear of causing them to be depressed”
Lack of time		Parallel clinical and administrative tasks		T32M		“Here we are so boggled down with the patients that we do not even have the opportunity to think about how and when to give feedback to them”
		Poor teacher-student ratio		T10F T11F		“There are nearly 200 students in each academic year, even the clinical postings have nearly 30-40 students making it difficult to observe each one of them with very few teachers around” “The clinical disciplines are mostly fraught with lack of staff and multitude of clinical and administrative tasks making it a chore to keep track of all the students that we are teaching”
Perceived need		Learning objectives		T28M T21M		“They (students) lack clarity of their own learning objectives and are often guided by what their peers are planning to learn” “Students seldom take the initiative to introspect on their learning needs or express them succinctly, so that the mentors are able to cater to their specific learning goals”
		Learning environment		T16F T33F		“With changing times, in addition to their studies emphasis is laid on other co-curricular activities and events that may divert the students from their studies so, balance needs to be created between the curricular and co-curricular activities” “The institutional philosophy has a strong bearing on the learning experience of the students”
		Student’s motivation		T19F		“It is very rare to find students who are self-motivated, therefore, it becomes imperative for the teachers to provide a stimulating environment for facilitating their learning to a great extent”

*Participant ID format T=teacher; M=male; F=female