Undergraduates' preparedness for practice is associated with professional identity and perception of educational environment: A validation study

Abstract

Background: Medical schools prepare undergraduates for clinical practice. Clinical competencies build up gradually and continuously. Existing literature suggests that new graduates are often unprepared for independent practice. This study aims to validate a Chinese version of a Preparedness for Hospital Practice Questionnaire (PHPQ) in a Taiwanese undergraduate cohort.

Methods: The original eight-domain English version PHPQ was translated into Chinese and back-translated for expert panel discussion. The eight domains encompass interpersonal skills, confidence, collaboration, management, science, prevention, holistic care, and self-directed learning. Reliability and validity were checked by Cronbach's alpha and by confirmatory factor analysis (CFA), respectively. Participants were divided into higher and lower preparedness groups according to PHPQ results, and compared by age, sex, professional identity, and perception of educational environment.

Results: A total of 129 undergraduate medical students (55% males) participated in the study. The overall Cronbach's alpha was 0.94. Participants were found to be best prepared in the domain of disease prevention (M = 4.37, SD = 0.68) and least prepared in interpersonal skills (M = 2.68, SD = 0.77). A satisfactory goodness of fit data was yield from CFA with a CMIN/DF of 2.02. Higher levels of preparedness are associated with stronger professional identity (p < 0.001) and better perceived learning environment (p < 0.001).

Conclusion: The Chinese version of PHPQ showed good reliability and validity. Preparedness for practice was associated with how learners feel about themselves as doctors and how well they had integrated into medical teamwork.

Keywords: Confirmatory factor analysis; Preparedness for practice; Professional identity; Undergraduate medical education; Validation study.