The learning environment of paediatric interns in South Africa

Kimesh L Naidoo,Jacqueline M Van Wyk,Miriam Adhikari

doi:10.1186/s12909-017-1080-3

Abstract

BackgroundSouth African (SA) paediatric interns (recently qualified medical graduates) work in a high disease burdened and resource deficient environment for two years, prior to independent practice. Perceptions of this learning environment (LE) influences their approaches to training as well as the outcomes of this period of development. Obstacles to creating a supportive LE and supervisor interaction affects the quality of this training. Measuring perceptions of the LE with validated instruments can help inform improvements in learning during this crucial period of medical education.MethodsThe aims of this study was to determine the psychometric qualities of the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) amongst paediatric interns across four hospital complexes in South Africa and to measure the LE as perceived by both interns and their supervisors. Construct validity was tested using factor analysis and internal consistency was measured with Cronbach’s alpha.ResultsA total of 209 interns and 60 supervisors (69% intern response rate) responded to the questionnaire. The PHEEM was found to be very reliable with an overall Cronbach’s alpha of 0.943 and 0.874 for intern and supervisors respectively. Factor analysis using a 3-factor solution accounted for 42% of the variance with the teaching subscale having the best fit compared with the other sub-scales of the original tool. Most interns perceived the learning environment as being more positive than negative however, their perceptions differed significantly from that of their supervisors. Poor infrastructural support from institutions, excessive workloads and inadequate supervision were factors preventing optimal training of paediatric interns.ConclusionsThe SA version of the PHEEM tool used was found to be a reliable and valid instrument for use in interns amongst high disease burdened contexts. Various obstacles to creating an ideal learning environment for paediatric interns were identified to be in need of urgent review. Key differences in perceptions of an ideal learning environment between interns and their supervisors need to be fully explored as these may result in sub-optimal supervision and mentoring.

Highlights

South African (SA) paediatric interns work in a high disease burdened and resource deficient environment for two years, prior to independent practice
The South African (SA) medical internship program occurs in an environment of high neonatal, infant and child mortality reflecting the multiple disease burdens of HIV/ AIDS and Tuberculosis within the poor socio-economic context of sub-Saharan Africa [1,2,3,4]
In order to validate the use of the Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) in our setting we studied the psychometric characteristics and internal consistency of the version used in our study

Summary

Introduction

South African (SA) paediatric interns (recently qualified medical graduates) work in a high disease burdened and resource deficient environment for two years, prior to independent practice. Perceptions of this learning environment (LE) influences their approaches to training as well as the outcomes of this period of development. The Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) is a well-recognized instrument to assess the learning environment of postgraduate medicine [19]. Structural and cultural differences that exist in the high disease burdened environment of SA may affect the reliability and validity of a tool developed in a very different context. In order for the PHEEM to be used in the SA context it’s psychometric qualities needs to be assessed

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Conclusion