The Dutch residency educational climate test: construct and concurrent validation in Spanish language.

Luis Carlos Dominguez,Milou Silkens,Alvaro Sanabria

doi:10.5116/ijme.5d0c.bff7

Abstract

ObjectivesTo translate the 35-item version of the Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test (D-RECT), and assess its reliability, construct validity and concurrent validity in the Spanish language. MethodsFor this validation study, the D-RECT was translated using international recommendations. A total of 220 paper-based resident evaluations covering two Colombian universities were cross-sectionally collected in 2015. A Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to assess the internal validity of the instrument using the Comparative fit index (CFI), Tucker-Lewis index (TLI), Standardized root mean square residual (SRMSR), and Root mean square error of approximation (RMSA). Cronbach’s α was used to assess reliability. The concurrent validity was investigated through Pearson correlations with the Spanish version of the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM). ResultsThe original 9-factor structure showed an appropriate fit for the Spanish version of the instrument (CFI = 0.84, TLI = 0.82, SRMSR = 0.06, and RMSA = 0.06). The reliability coefficients were satisfactory (>0.70). The mean total scores of the D-RECT and the PHEEM showed a significant correlation (r = 0.7, p<0.01). ConclusionsThis study confirms the validity and reliability of the Spanish version of the Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test, indicating that the instrument is suitable for the evaluation of departments’ learning climate in the Spanish context. Future research is needed to confirm these findings in other Spanish speaking countries.

Highlights

Evaluating the learning climate in postgraduate medical education (PGME) is a cornerstone to assure the quality of residency training as well as of patient care provided by residents
The results obtained from the correlation analysis showed a high level of confidence that the Spanish Dutch Residency Educational Climate Test (D-RECT) measures a similar construct to the Spanish Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM), namely the learning climate in postgraduate training
As the original validation procedure of the D-RECT already identified a solid structure by using a Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) and as the content of the D-RECT was applicable in the Colombian context without alterations, we identified a CFA as the preferred method to assess the psychometric properties of the Spanish instrument

Summary

Introduction

Evaluating the learning climate in postgraduate medical education (PGME) is a cornerstone to assure the quality of residency training as well as of patient care provided by residents. Despite the increased attention for learning climates in PGME worldwide and the number of instruments that developed as a result of this attention, the availability of such instruments in the Spanish language is limited This lack of instruments sets boundaries to the continuous improvement of the learning climate in Spanish speaking countries, thereby impacting on academic outcomes that are routinely evaluated in other contexts (e.g., academic performance, self-directed learning, residents’ training experience and wellbeing).[4,6,8,9]

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Conclusion