Validation of the Korean version of the Reflective Practice Questionnaire in clinical clerkship of Korean medical students

Evaluation of family medicine residents' reflection skills

BACKGROUND

While reflection skills have been extensively studied in undergraduate medical education, research on the reflection skills of residents remains limited in the Turkish literature. Therefore, a two-phase study was conducted. In the first phase, a methodological study adapted the Groningen Reflection Ability Scale (GRAS) for residents. In the second phase, a cross-sectional study assessed the reflection skills of family medicine (FM) residents using the adapted scale, examining reflection ability scores across gender, seniority, and institution type.

METHODS

GRAS has been translated into Turkish. Firstly, the Turkish version was administered to 230 residents from various specialties. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was run, Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients were calculated. Then, the adapted scale was administered to 336 FM residents in Turkey. Skewness and kurtosis coefficients were calculated, and the Shapiro-Wilk test was applied to examine normality. Group comparisons were conducted using the Mann-Whitney U test and the Kruskal-Wallis H test.

RESULTS

In the first phase, GRAS-TR-pg with 20-item, single-dimension and three-factor structure has been validated for use with Turkish residents. Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's omega coefficients were found to be sufficient. In the second phase, there were no significant differences in the scores received, based on various variables.

CONCLUSION

This study reveals that the adapted GRAS-TR-pg can serve as a valid and reliable tool to measure the reflective skills of residents in Turkey. No significant differences found based on various variables regarding the reflection skill levels of Turkish FM residents.

Further development of the reflective practice questionnaire

Background

This article provides an update of the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ). The original RPQ consisted of 40-items with 10-sub-scales. In this article, the RPQ is streamlined into a 10-item single reflective practice construct, and a 30-item extended version that includes additional sub-scales of confidence, uncertainty/stress, and work satisfaction.

Methods

A total of 501 university students filled out an online questionnaire that contained the original Reflective Practice Questionnaire, and two general measures of reflection: The Self-Reflection and Insight Scale, and the Rumination-Reflection Questionnaire.

Results

Based on factor analysis, the RPQ was streamlined into a brief 10-item version, and an extended 30-item version. Small positive correlations were found between the RPQ reflective practice measure and the two measures of general reflection, providing discriminant validity evidence for the RPQ. The RPQ was found to be sensitive to differences among industries, whereas the general measures of reflection were not. Average reflective practice scores were higher for health and education industries compared to retail and food/accommodation industries.

Grading reflective essays: the construct validity and reliability of a newly developed Tool- GRE-9

BACKGROUND

The main objective of this study is to assess the construct validity and reliability of the Grading Reflective Essays-9 (GRE-9).

METHODS

This study took place in a major tertiary academic medical center in Beirut, Lebanon. 104 reflective essays written by years 1-3 residents in the department of Family Medicine at the American University of Beirut Medical Center (AUBMC) were graded by 2 trained raters who independently scored the essays using GRE-9. GRE-9 scores were then correlated with scores on communication skills OSCE stations and in-training examinations to investigate, respectively, convergent and divergent validity. One of the 2 raters scored the essays twice one month apart to assess the reliability of the GRE-9 using intra rater reliability and internal consistency.

RESULTS

There was a weak, non-significant correlation between GRE-9 score and In training examination (ITE) score (r = - .213, p = .395). There was a moderate, non-significant correlation between GRE-9 scores and the Objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) communication station scores (r = - .412 p = .162). The correlation coefficient between trails 1 and 2 was significant (r = .832, p = .000). Intra class correlation coefficient (ICC) analysis demonstrated almost perfect intra-rater agreement (0.819; 95% CI: 0.741-0.875) of the test ratings over time.

CONCLUSIONS

GRE-9, is a short, concise, easy-to-use reliable grading tool for reflective essays that has demonstrated moderate to substantial intra-rater reliability and evidence of divergent validity. The study found non-significant correlations between reflective writing scores OSCE communication scores demonstrating a lack of relationship between reflective writing and this measure of performance.