Development and validation of professional identity formation self assessment questionnaire for medical educators

Abstract

Every professional achieves a sense of identity of that profession after a longitudinal developmental process. The process is influenced by various personal, social, and working environment related factors. The factors which influence professional identity formation (PIF) in medical educators and metrics which can be used to self-assess their stage of PIF have never been identified. Present study was undertaken to identify the factors affecting the PIF in medical educators, to enlist their competencies and to design a self assessment questionnaire to assess the stage of PIF in medical educators. During initial online survey, 37 faculty members were recruited, till saturation of samples was achieved. Factors affecting PIF of medical educators were identified, the trajectory along PIF was demarcated, and competencies of medical educators were deduced from this survey. Items were generated and a questionnaire was designed, which was validated through content validation process, items were reduced through exploratory factor analysis and construct validity was established. Internal consistency of the scale was confirmed via Cronbach s alpha values. College support, self interest, peer support, mentors support, role models, recognition at work place, participation in faculty development programs, and institutional environment were the most common factors affecting PIF. Of the 20 competencies identified, subject expertise was top ranked competency, while administrative skill was ranked last. The 50 items, 10 factors solution questionnaire was reduced after factor analysis to 36 items, 8 factors solution questionnaire. The questionnaire was in congruence with the model fit indices. The designed professional identity formation self-assessment questionnaire for medical educators will help medical faculty to have a self-assessment of development of their professional identity, ascertain the stage of development of their identity, and thus take informed reformative decisions. newline