Perceptions of Preceptors and Students Regarding Feedback During Supervised Clinical Analysis Internships
Feedback. Supervised internship. Health education. Clinical laboratory sciences. Preceptorship.
Introduction: Feedback is widely recognized as a key element in promoting meaningful learning and developing professional competencies in health education, particularly in practice-based training contexts. Objectives: To analyze the perceptions of students and preceptors at a university hospital regarding feedback practices in the clinical laboratory, and to examine the potential impact of an educational intervention on the teaching–learning process. Method: A qualitative, exploratory, and interpretative study was conducted with supervised internship students and clinical laboratory preceptors through individual semi-structured interviews, which were audio-recorded, fully transcribed, and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Results: Feedback was recognized as essential for learning and patient safety and was predominantly delivered immediately within the workflow. However, limitations were identified, including lack of systematization, service demands, hierarchical asymmetries, and preceptors’ pedagogical insecurity, as well as inconsistent criteria across sectors and professionals. Relational factors such as trust, psychological safety, and communicative clarity emerged as central conditions for feedback acceptance and use, while bidirectionality appeared more as an expectation than as an established practice. Conclusions: Improving feedback in supervised clinical laboratory internships requires institutional strategies that integrate pedagogical training for preceptors, work organization, and structured spaces for feedback and learner voice, strengthening more dialogic, systematized, and bidirectional practices to enhance the formative potential of preceptorship.