Abstract:
This article describes the envelopment of a scale for measurement of medical student attitudes toward six relevant aspects of medical practice: 1) psychological and emotional issues involved in organic disease; 2) management of situations related to death: 3) primary care; 4) mental disease; 5) medical research; and 6) other aspects of medical work. A five-point Likert scale containing 52 items was developed and tested. Procedures employed for determination of both apparent and content validity as well as factorial analysis of data obtained in a preliminary test with 196 medical students permitted the exclusion of ineffective items and showed high internal consistency (Cronbach´s alpha = 0.86). The final version of the scale was therefore regarded as valid and reliable for the assessment of medical student attitudes, and it is believed that future research with this instrument may contribute to a better understanding of medical student education.
Key-words:
Education, Medical; Attitude; Psychometrics; Educational measurement; Students, Medical