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Research indicates the importance and usefulness of feedback, yet with the shift of medical curricula toward competencies, feedback is not well understood in this context. This paper attempts to identify how feedback fits within a competency-based curriculum. After careful consideration of the literature, the following conclusions are drawn: (1) Because feedback is predicated on assessment, the assessment should be designed to optimize and prevent inaccuracies in feedback; (2) Giving qualitative feedback in the form of a conversation would lend credibility to the feedback, address emotional obstacles and create a context in which feedback is comfortable; (3) Quantitative feedback in the form of individualized data could fulfill the demand for more feedback, help students devise strategies on how to improve, allow students to compare themselves to their peers, recognizing that big data have limitations; and (4 …