CAN PROFESSIONALISM BE MEASURED - THE DEVELOPMENT OF A SCALE FOR USE IN THE MEDICAL ENVIRONMENT

Purpose. To assess a scale that measures professional attitudes and be haviors associated with the medical education and the residency traini ng environment. Method. In 1995-96, the authors surveyed medical stude nts and residents from five institutions in the northeast region of th e United States. Results. Of 757 distributed questionnaires, 565 were returned (75% response rate). Of those, 529 (94%) were used in the ana lysis. The mean score for the retained 12 items was 92.9 (SD, 11.9), w ith higher scores indicating more positive perceptions. The internal r eliability of the scale was moderately high (alpha = .71). A factor an alysis identified three subscales: excellence, honor/integrity, and al truism/respect, with eigenvalues (alpha coefficients) of 3.18 (.72), 1 .70 (.60), and 1.20 (.59), respectively. Conclusions. The results are interpreted as an encouraging first step toward the development of a r eliable scale that measures professionalism within the environment of medical education and residency training.