| Course | PA 616 Clinical Clerkship - Surgery |
|---|---|
| Week | 8 |
| Paper type | Feedback reply memo |
| Length | About 430 words, 4 pages |
| Format | Memo with APA 7 citations |
| School | Chamberlain University |
| Program | Master of Physician Assistant Studies (MPAS) |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for PA 616 Week 8
Memorandum
To: Chief resident, general and foregut surgery
From: PA student
Date: April 24, 2026
Re: Reply to your mid-rotation feedback of April 21: three items, each restated and answered with a change
Item 1: Leaving the Operating Room Without Telling Anyone
Your feedback: "On April 16 you left the OR during the paraesophageal case to answer a page and did not tell the circulating nurse or me. We did not know you were gone until we needed the camera."
That is accurate. The change: from April 22, I hand my pager to the circulating nurse at the start of every case, and if I must leave I say so aloud to the surgeon and the circulator before stepping away. The nurse can confirm this.
Item 2: Postoperative Day Confused With Hospital Day
Your feedback: "On rounds you presented C.N. as hospital day 2 when the patient was postoperative day 1, and the team almost advanced the diet early."
That is accurate. The change: every patient block on my pre-round sheet now starts with the postoperative day in its own field, and I say "postoperative day" aloud on rounds. You will see it on tomorrow's sheet.
Item 3: Drain Outputs Missing From the Pre-Round Sheet
Your feedback: "Your sheet for P.R. had no drain numbers on April 15."
That is accurate. The change: the drains line is now a fixed field in every block, and an empty drain field is written as "no drains" rather than left blank, so a missing number cannot look like no drain.
I checked my sheets since April 15: drain values are now present on every block with a drain, and "no drains" appears on every block without one.
No Circumstances, Anywhere
I have not explained why each happened. The reasons do not change what needs to be different.
I could explain each item: the page on April 16 was from my program about a deadline, and the hospital-day confusion came from a template. Neither explanation changes what you saw, so neither is in this reply beyond this sentence.
Restate at Full Strength
Each item is quoted as you gave it. Ende (1983) argued that clinical feedback helps most when it describes what was actually seen and is taken in without a defense being mounted.
Addressed to One Person
This reply goes to you only. I will ask on April 28 whether the changes are visible from where you stand.
If you see any of the three happening again, I would rather hear it the same day than at the end of the rotation.
References
Ende, J. (1983). Feedback in clinical medical education. JAMA, 250(6), 777-781. https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.1983.03340060055026
What the PA 616 Week 8 assignment asks for
Week eight closes the clerkship with a brief written reply to feedback, addressed by name and position to the person who gave it. Open without preamble. Give each item of feedback its own block, with the heading carrying the item, and restate it at full strength, close to the words used, without softening. Put the hardest item first. Answer each with a change that has a visible edge, something the feedback giver could see or check. Offer no circumstances or explanations; they do not change what needs to be different. End with a way to check whether the changes are visible. If you think an item was wrong, say so plainly and give the evidence, but still restate it fully. Cite any source on feedback that informs the reply.
Inside the PA 616 Week 8 example
The memo is dated April 24, 2026, from the PA student to the chief resident of general and foregut surgery. Item 1 quotes the feedback about leaving the operating room to answer a page on April 16 without telling anyone, accepts it and commits to handing the pager to the circulating nurse and announcing any departure. Item 2 quotes the confusion of hospital day with postoperative day for C.N. and commits to a fixed postoperative day field and saying it aloud. Item 3 quotes missing drain numbers and commits to a fixed drains field written as "no drains" when empty. A section explains offering no circumstances. A section cites Ende (1983) on specific, behavior-based feedback. The last section commits to asking on April 28 whether the changes are visible.
PA 616 Week 8 rubric: what full points look like
Feedback replies lose the most when they soften the feedback or explain it away, which signals the item was not heard. Next comes a change with no visible edge, such as "I will be more careful." Graders deduct when the easiest item is answered first and the hardest left vague. Faculty reward items restated at full strength, hardest first, each with a checkable change. Addressing the reply to one named person shows ownership. Offering no circumstances is graded as professionalism. A plan to check the changes, and citation of any feedback source in APA form, complete the rubric.
PA 616 Week 8 help from the desk
Feedback replies most often go wrong by turning into a reflection on how the rotation felt, with the actual items paraphrased mildly. Another common problem is explaining why each item happened. Some replies also make promises nobody could check. If your feedback was different, send the items as they were said; a reply prepared for you would restate each at full strength, start with the hardest, answer each with a visible change, offer no circumstances and close with a way to check. If you disagree with an item, the reply would say so with evidence after restating it fully.
Get a PA-616 Week 8 example written to your instructions
Send the feedback your section supplies for this assignment, or the invented feedback it asks you to answer, with the week's instructions and any memo format your classroom posted. A custom PA-616 reply is written to that material and returned inside 24-48h, the first free. Real comments about your own work do not need to be sent; a constructed set of the same shape works.
More PA 616 papers and MPAS samples
- PA 616 Week 1: Surgical Service Chain Post
- PA 616 Week 2: Pre-Rounding Data Sheet
- PA 616 Week 3: Service Census Update
- PA 616 Week 4: Case Preparation Card
- PA 616 Week 5: Operative Note Draft
- PA 616 Week 6: Postoperative Check Note
- PA 616 Week 7: Procedure Log Summary
- PA 614 Week 8: End of Shift Summary
- PA 612 Week 8: Day of Discharge Checklist
- PA 610 Week 8: Continuity Case Report
- PA 608 Week 8: Deficit Classification
PA 616 Week 8 questions, answered
What if I think the feedback was wrong?
Answer it anyway, and keep the disagreement to one sentence in the block it belongs to, phrased as information the reader may not have had. Sections mark the handling rather than the verdict, and a memo that concedes the practical point while adding a fact reads better than either flat acceptance or a rebuttal. Arguing across several blocks changes the document into something else entirely.
Is this the same as the reflection my other courses ask for?
No. Treating it as a reflection is the fault this week sees most. A reflection reports how something felt and what the writer learned about themselves. This memo is addressed to somebody who will still be working with the writer next week, and everything in it is aimed at what that person will see change. The audience makes it a different document.
How many items should the reply cover?
All of them, including the one that was mentioned in passing. Selecting which criticisms to answer is itself read as an answer, and the item left out is the one a reader looks for. Where the feedback ran to a dozen points, group them into three or four blocks and say in the opening sentence that you have grouped them, which most sections accept.
Where can I find a free PA 616 Week 8 sample paper?
This page carries the complete PA 616 Week 8 reply to a chief resident's feedback, with three items restated and a visible change for each.
What is the hardest item in the PA 616 Week 8 sample?
Leaving the operating room to answer a page without telling the circulating nurse or the surgeon, answered by handing the pager to the circulator.