Development and validation of a medical professionalism assessment scale

Su Wenhang; Zhang Jie; Chen Junyan; Chen Shaohua

doi:10.3969/j.issn.2096-4293.2025.03.011

Abstract：Objective To develop a scale for the assessment of medical professionalism,create an evaluation tool for professionalism,and investigate the level of knowledge and understanding of professionalism among trainees.Methods In order to evaluate professionalism in medicine,a scale was developed based on the evaluation system of residency core competency milestones of the China Consortium of Elite Teaching Hospitals,the six core competencies of the American ACGME and the Canadian physician competency framework of CanMEDS on professionalism,and in accordance with the Content and Standards of Standardized Residency Training(2022 version)officially released by the Chinese Medical Doctors'Association(CMA).Questionnaires were distributed and collected among the trainees,and the data were imported into SPSS 29.0 for quantitative analysis,which included an examination of the scale's reliability and validity,as well as clustering and exploratory factor analysis.Furthermore,33 individuals provided suggestions for enhancing comprehension of professionalism,which were then subjected to qualitative analysis.This analysis employed reflexivity and Pygmalion theory to examine the current state of professionalism and identify potential issues.Results The scale for the evaluation of professionalism was developed with the intention of including nine areas with a total of 41 entries.In this study,746 valid questionnaires were returned,and the Cronbach's alpha coefficient of the scale was 0.967,with a KMO value of 0.966.A K-Means cluster analysis was conducted to demonstrate that 599 study participants(80.3%)demonstrated a superior comprehension of medical professionalism in general.An exploratory factor analysis was conducted to identify the underlying factors.The first factor was named self-worth,the second factor was named professional conduct,the third factor was named professional development,and the fourth factor was named overall quality.Furthermore,the qualitative study revealed that the participants'recommendations for enhancing the education of medical professionalism predominantly encompassed the incorporation of more clinical learning,which reflected certain challenges inherent in the existing education of medical professionalism.Conclusion The evaluation scale of medical professionalism has been demonstrated to possess both reliability and validity,and thus represents an effective measurement tool for gauging respondents'knowledge and understanding of professionalism.The majority of respondents demonstrate the ability to comprehend and recognize the fundamental tenets of medical professionalism,as well as the awareness of the significance of professionalism in clinical practice.