Development and Initial Validation of a Survey to Assess Self-Efficacy in Undergraduate Medical Education

• In Event: Measuring the Noncognitive Traits of Students in the Professions

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to develop a survey for measuring students’ medical knowledge and skills self-efficacy across the undergraduate medical education continuum, and to collect reliability and validity evidence for the instrument. A secondary purpose was to explore differences in students’ self-efficacy from year 1 of medical school to year 4. We created 19 survey items and collected data from 304 medical students. Results from an exploratory factor analysis suggested three interpretable factors: patient care self-efficacy, interpersonal skills self-efficacy, and evidence-based medicine self-efficacy. We then compared students’ self-efficacy at different stages of training. Consistent with our expectations, we found several significant differences, suggesting students’ self-efficacy increases considerably from year 1 to 4. Implications and future research are discussed.

Authors

• Anthony R. Artino, Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• Ting Dong, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• William Gilliland, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• Donna Waechter, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• Kent DeZee, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• David Cruess, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences

• Steven J. Durning, The Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences