Abstract
BackgroundWe sought to determine whether the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ) is a reliable measure of reflective capacity and related characteristics in medical students. We also planned to learn how the RPQ could be used in medical education.MethodsThe RPQ is a 40 item self-report questionnaire that includes a multi-faceted approach to measuring reflective capacity. It also includes sub-scales on several other theoretically relevant constructs such as desire for improvement, confidence, stress, and job satisfaction. The reliabilities of reflective capacity and other sub-scales were determined by calculating their Cronbach alpha reliability values. In the present study, the RPQ was answered by 98 graduating fourth-year medical students from an American University, and these RPQ scores were compared with general public and mental health practitioner samples from a prior study using ANOVA and Bonferroni adjusted comparisons.ResultsMedical students reported a higher reflective capacity than the general public sample, but students were statistically indistinguishable from the mental health practitioner sample. For medical students, reflective capacity was associated with features of confidence, stress, and desire for improvement. Job satisfaction was positively associated with confidence in communication with patients, and negatively associated with stress when interacting with patients. A cluster analysis revealed that around 19% of the medical students exhibited a relatively high level of anxiety interacting with patients, 23% were less engaged, 5% were dissatisfied, and 7% expressed a level of over-confidence in their knowledge and skills that was concerning.ConclusionsThe RPQ is a reliable measure of reflective capacity (Chronbach’s alpha value = 0.84) and related characteristics (Cronbach’s alpha values from 0.75 to 0.83) in medical students. The RPQ can be used as part of pre-post evaluations of medical education initiatives, to complement student self-reflection activities in the curriculum, and to identify students who might benefit from targeted intervention.
Highlights
We sought to determine whether the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ) is a reliable measure of reflective capacity and related characteristics in medical students
We suggest items 15 and 16 in Table 1 both loaded poorly because of similarities in their wording rather than an inability of medical students to reflect on their own beliefs
The mean medical student reflective capacity (RC) value was significantly higher than the general public value (d = 0.74, p < .001) but not higher than the mental health practitioner sample (Table 2)
Summary
We sought to determine whether the Reflective Practice Questionnaire (RPQ) is a reliable measure of reflective capacity and related characteristics in medical students. Reflective capacity refers to the ability, desire, and tendency of students to engage in reflective thought during their academic studies and clinical practices. The present study reports medical student responses to the newly developed reflective practice questionnaire (RPQ) [1]. The RPQ assesses self-reported reflective capacity and can be used to compare across every profession where interactions with clients occur [1]. The RPQ measures multiple aspects of reflective capacity, and additional relevant dimensions such as confidence, uncertainty, stress, desire for improvement, and job satisfaction
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