Challenges in the clinical education environment during the outbreak of COVID‑19: Development and psychometric testing
نویسندگان
1 Associate Professor, Department of Emergency Medicine, Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, Qazvin University of Medical Science, Qazvin, Iran
2 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Qazvin, Iran
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4 Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Prevention of Non-Communicable Diseases, School of Nursing and Midwifery, Qazvin University of Medical Sciences, Qazvin, Qazvin, Iran
5 Ph.D. in Health Education and Promotion, School of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
doi
چکیده
BACKGROUND: COVID‑19 pandemic poses unique physical and emotional challenges in providingclinical education. Failure to identify the challenges and problems that students face in the clinicallearning environment hinders their effective learning and growth. Consequently, the progress oftheir skills is affected. The aim of this study was to develop a challenge in the clinical educationenvironment of medical students during the outbreak of COVID‑19 questionnaire and to test itspsychometric properties.MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study is part of a larger study that was conducted using acombined consecutive method in Qazvin. In the first stage, a phenomenological study was performedwith van Manen’s method by interviewing 12 students at Qazvin University. To extract the items ofthe tool in the second stage, the concept was defined. Ultimately, the psychometric properties ofthe questionnaire were evaluated with face validity, content validity (quantitative and qualitative),construct validity (exploratory factor analysis), internal consistency (Cronbach’s alpha), and test–retestreliability (intraclass correlation coefficient).RESULTS: The initial tool had 70 questions. After validation, 53 items remained in the finalquestionnaire. Four extracted dimensions were as follows: “Inadequate professional competency,”“Inefficient clinical planning” and “outcomes of learning‑teaching activities,” and “the challengesrelated to the stigma of medical staff.” Cronbach’s alpha for the whole questionnaire was0.98 (range: 0.87–0.98). The test–retest (intraclass correlation coefficient) reliability was0.98 (P < 0.001).CONCLUSIONS: According to the obtained results, if the items of “Inadequate professionalcompetency,” “Inefficient clinical planning” and “outcomes of learning‑teaching activities,” and “thechallenges related to the stigma of medical staff,” the challenges of students’ clinical education canbe reduced during the COVID‑19 outbreak.
