Measuring Students’ Perceptions of the Medical School Learning Environment: Translation, Transcultural Adaptation, and Validation of 2 Instruments to the Brazilian Portuguese Language

Background: Although learning environment (LE) is an important component of medical training, there are few instruments to investigate LE in Latin American and Brazilian medical schools. Therefore, this study aims to translate, adapt transculturally, and validate the Medical School Learning Environment Scale (MSLES) and the Johns Hopkins Learning Environment Scale (JHLES) to the Brazilian Portuguese language. Method: This study was carried out between June 2016 and October 2017. Both scales have been translated and cross-culturally adapted to Brazilian Portuguese Language and then back translated and approved by the original authors. A principal components analysis (PCA) was performed for both the MSLES and the JHLES. Test–retest reliability was assessed by comparing the first administration of the MSLES and the JHLES with a second administration 45 days later. Validity was assessed by comparing the MSLES and the JHLES with 2 overall LE perception questions; a sociodemographic questionnaire; and the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale (DASS-21). Results: A total of 248 out of 334 (74.2%) first- to third-year medical students from a Brazilian public university were included. Principal component analysis generated 4 factors for MSLES and 7 factors for JHLES. Both showed good reliability for the total scale (MSLES α = .809; JHLES α = .901), as well as for each subdomain. Concurrent and convergent validity were observed by the strong correlations found between both scale totals ( r = 0.749), as well as with both general LE questions: recommend the school to a friend (MSLES: r = 0.321; JHLES: r = 0.457) and overall LE rating (MSLES: r = 0.505; JHLES: r = 0.579). The 45-day test–retest comparison resulted in a Pearson correlation coefficient of 0.697 for the JHLES and 0.757 for the MSLES. Conclusions: Reliability and validity have been demonstrated for both the MSLES and the JHLES. Thus, both represent feasible options for measuring LE in Brazilian medical students.

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Profiling medical school learning environments in Malaysia: a validation study of the Johns Hopkins Learning Environment Scale

Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions ◽

10.3352/jeehp.2015.12.39 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 12 ◽

pp. 39 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Sean Tackett ◽

Hamidah Abu Bakar ◽

Nicole A. Shilkofski ◽

Niamh Coady ◽

Krishna Rampal ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Learning Environment ◽

Medical School ◽

Learning Environments ◽

Personal Growth ◽

Internal Reliability ◽

Single Item ◽

Response Options ◽

International Partnership ◽

Environment Scale ◽

School Learning

Purpose: While a strong learning environment is critical to medical student education, the assessment of medical school learning environments has confounded researchers. Our goal was to assess the validity and utility of the Johns Hopkins Learning Environment Scale (JHLES) for preclinical students at three Malaysian medical schools with distinct educational and institutional models. Two schools were new international partnerships, and the third was school leaver program established without international partnership. Methods: First- and second-year students responded anonymously to surveys at the end of the academic year. The surveys included the JHLES, a 28-item survey using five-point Likert scale response options, the Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM), the most widely used method to assess learning environments internationally, a personal growth scale, and single-item global learning environment assessment variables. Results: The overall response rate was 369/429 (86%). After adjusting for the medical school year, gender, and ethnicity of the respondents, the JHLES detected differences across institutions in four out of seven domains (57%), with each school having a unique domain profile. The DREEM detected differences in one out of five categories (20%). The JHLES was more strongly correlated than the DREEM to two thirds of the single-item variables and the personal growth scale. The JHLES showed high internal reliability for the total score (α=0.92) and the seven domains (α= 0.56-0.85). Conclusion: The JHLES detected variation between learning environment domains across three educational settings, thereby creating unique learning environment profiles. Interpretation of these profiles may allow schools to understand how they are currently supporting trainees and identify areas needing attention.

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Sexual harassment during medical training: the perceptions of medical students at a university medical school in Australia

Medical Education ◽

10.1046/j.1365-2923.2000.00684.x ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 34 (12) ◽

pp. 980-986 ◽

Cited By ~ 39

Author(s):

Gillian Eyres White

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Sexual Harassment ◽

Medical School ◽

Medical Training

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STUDENTS' PERCEPTION OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: A PILOT STUDY INTO SOME DIFFERENCES AND SIMILARITIES BETWEEN CLINICAL SCHOOLS IN THE U.K.

Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education ◽

10.1080/0260293810060303 ◽

1981 ◽

Vol 6 (3) ◽

pp. 206-217 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Richard E. Wakeford

Keyword(s):

Pilot Study ◽

Learning Environment ◽

Medical School ◽

School Learning

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On Teaching the Sum While Paying Attention to the Parts: Whole Person Care through Ethnography in Medical Education

International Journal of Whole Person Care ◽

10.26443/ijwpc.v2i2.96 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Vasiliki Nataly Rahimzadeh ◽

David Lessard ◽

Peter Nugus

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Family Medicine ◽

Medical School ◽

Professional Identity ◽

Identity Formation ◽

Medical Training ◽

Academic Discipline ◽

Professional Identity Formation ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Whole Person

Objective—This article provides a reflection on medical teaching opportunities for whole person care based on our experiences mentoring 2nd-year medical students through an Ethnography Practicum at a Canadian university. Background—The Ethnography Practicum is a new addition to the Family Medicine Transition to Clinical Practice (TCP) curriculum introduced in the second year of medical school at McGill University. It involves 30 hours of instruction (6 hours in lectures with an instructor, and 24 hours in small-group tutorials with the authors), and 9 hours of fieldwork observations in various community health settings across Montreal, QC. The primary aims of the Practicum converge with those of the TCP generally in two important ways: to inculcate in students the concepts of patient centered care, and to promote family medicine as both an academic discipline and career option. Results and Discussion— Our experiences illustrate two tensions that shape students’ expectations and experiences throughout their involvement in the Practicum and, in turn, highlight the implications for teaching whole-person care. First, ethnography as a combination of different methods has itself been the locus of tensions between positivist and critical traditions in the three last decades. Second, the Practicum is situated precisely at the crossroads of key moments on the professional identity formation continuum for our students. Such a crossroads is disruptive to the status quo of medical traineeship characteristic of the first two years in medical school, and thus reorients professional identity formation. The above tensions reveal how ethnography is not only a revered research tradition in the humanities, but can also be a conduit to whole person care-inspired clinical practice.Conclusion—As instructors and mentors involved in this Ethnography Practicum, we are continually forging a new relevance for organizational ethnography in medical training, where medical students can reflect and act on competencies beyond clinical ones. The Practicum provides a space for students to wrestle with alternative epistemologies to understanding the social world in which medicine is embedded. We lastly provide pragmatic ways to better address these tensions in an effort to support students as they proceed through the (multifaceted) development of their professional identities as future physicians.

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Validation of the Core Beliefs Inventory (CBI) in Brazilian Portuguese

Trends in Psychiatry and Psychotherapy ◽

10.1590/2237-6089-2018-0038 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 41 (4) ◽

pp. 409-414

Author(s):

Tayse Conter de Moura ◽

Julia Candia Donat ◽

Thiago Loreto Garcia da Silva ◽

Adriane Xavier Arteche ◽

Carolina Saraiva de Macedo Lisboa ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Psychometric Properties ◽

Posttraumatic Growth ◽

Internal Consistency ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Pearson Correlation ◽

Brazilian Portuguese ◽

Core Beliefs ◽

Portuguese Version ◽

The Core ◽

Adequate Internal Consistency

Abstract Introduction Experiencing trauma may entail psychopathological consequences, but also changes considered to be positive (i.e., posttraumatic growth). For positive change to occur, an impact on the beliefs of individuals is required, which may be measured through the Core Beliefs Inventory (CBI). The objective of this study was to validate the Brazilian Portuguese version of the CBI. Methods A total of 248 university students (65.7% female) answered the following assessment instruments: sociodemographic data sheet, Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), Posttraumatic Symptoms Checklist – Clinician Version (PCL-5) and the CBI. Psychometric properties of the CBI were assessed by conducting an exploratory factor analysis through a principal component analysis with varimax rotation. Internal consistency (Cronbach’s α) and convergent validity (Pearson correlation between instruments) were also investigated. Results The total scale showed adequate internal consistency (α = 0.83). A single factor solution explained 42.63% of the variance of the CBI. Significant correlations were found between CBI and PTGI, and between CBI and PCL-5. Conclusion The psychometric properties indicated adequate internal consistency and construct validity of the Brazilian Portuguese version of the CBI.

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What Are the Characteristics of Fourth-Year Medical Students With Higher Levels of Resilience?

PRiMER ◽

10.22454/primer.2019.150381 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 3 ◽

Author(s):

Sey Park ◽

Maribeth Porter ◽

Ki Park ◽

Lauren Bielick ◽

Benjamin J. Rooks ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Medical School ◽

Medical Training ◽

Personal Characteristics ◽

After School ◽

Demographic Information ◽

Personal Time ◽

Resilience Scale ◽

Fourth Year Medical Students ◽

Race Ethnicity

Introduction: Burnout during medical training, including medical school, has gained attention in recent years. Resiliency may be an important characteristic for medical students to have or obtain. The aim of this study was to examine the level of resiliency in fourth-year medical students and whether certain characteristics were associated with students who have higher levels of resiliency. Methods: Subjects were fourth-year medical students who completed a survey during a required end-of-year rotation. The survey collected subjects’ demographic information including age, gender, race, ethnicity, marital status, and chosen specialty. They were also asked to complete the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) and answer questions that assessed personal characteristics. Results: The response rate was 92.4%. Most respondents had personal time for themselves after school (92.6%), exercise or participate in physical activity for at least 30 minutes most days of the week (67.2%), were able to stop thinking about medical school after leaving for the day (58.2%), and had current financial stress (51.6%). No differences were noted in demographic information among students across specialty categories. A higher BRS score was associated with being male and having the ability to stop thinking about school. Conclusions: BRS scores in medical students are associated with specific demographic characteristics and the ability to stop thinking about school. Addressing the modifiable activities may assist students with increasing their resiliency and potentially decreasing their risk of burnout.

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Validation of a competence-based assessment of medical students’ performance in the physician’s role

BMC Medical Education ◽

10.1186/s12909-019-1919-x ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 20 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Sarah Prediger ◽

Kristina Schick ◽

Fabian Fincke ◽

Sophie Fürstenberg ◽

Viktor Oubaid ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Convergent Validity ◽

Medical Training ◽

Assessment Instrument ◽

Choice Test ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Physician’S Role ◽

Physician's Role ◽

Gap Test ◽

Assessment Format

Abstract Background Assessing competence of advanced undergraduate medical students based on performance in the clinical context is the ultimate, yet challenging goal for medical educators to provide constructive alignment between undergraduate medical training and professional work of physicians. Therefore, we designed and validated a performance-based 360-degree assessment for competences of advanced undergraduate medical students. Methods This study was conducted in three steps: 1) Ten facets of competence considered to be most important for beginning residents were determined by a ranking study with 102 internists and 100 surgeons. 2) Based on these facets of competence we developed a 360-degree assessment simulating a first day of residency. Advanced undergraduate medical students (year 5 and 6) participated in the physician’s role. Additionally knowledge was assessed by a multiple-choice test. The assessment was performed twice (t1 and t2) and included three phases: a consultation hour, a patient management phase, and a patient handover. Sixty-seven (t1) and eighty-nine (t2) undergraduate medical students participated. 3) The participants completed the Group Assessment of Performance (GAP)-test for flight school applicants to assess medical students‘ facets of competence in a non-medical context for validation purposes. We aimed to provide a validity argument for our newly designed assessment based on Messick’s six aspects of validation: (1) content validity, (2) substantive/cognitive validity, (3) structural validity, (4) generalizability, (5) external validity, and (6) consequential validity. Results Our assessment proved to be well operationalised to enable undergraduate medical students to show their competences in performance on the higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy. Its generalisability was underscored by its authenticity in respect of workplace reality and its underlying facets of competence relevant for beginning residents. The moderate concordance with facets of competence of the validated GAP-test provides arguments of convergent validity for our assessment. Since five aspects of Messick’s validation approach could be defended, our competence-based 360-degree assessment format shows good arguments for its validity. Conclusion According to these validation arguments, our assessment instrument seems to be a good option to assess competence in advanced undergraduate medical students in a summative or formative way. Developments towards assessment of postgraduate medical trainees should be explored.

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