The development and validation of the mini-surgical theatre educational environment measure.
BACKGROUND
The operating theatre educational environment during medical school may influence student's perceptions of a surgical career. Interest in a surgical career is declining both in the USA and the UK. This study sought to develop and validate a practical questionnaire for distribution to medical undergraduates to assess their operating theatre educational environment.


METHODS
A previously published questionnaire--the Surgical Theatre Educational Environment Measure (STEEM) (validated on postgraduates) was distributed to 83 final year medical students. The STEEM was found to be a reliable and valid tool for use on undergraduates (Cronbach's alpha = 0.86). From this preliminary study, factor analysis identified 13 factors covering 73% of the variance, which enabled the development of a shorter 14-item questionnaire (mini-STEEM).


RESULTS
The mini-STEEM was distributed to 99 medical students following their final year surgical placement at a UK medical school, with a 100% response rate. The mini-STEEM was shown to be a valid, reliable (Cronbach's alpha = 0.80) and practical tool, which was easy to complete, code and analyse.


CONCLUSIONS
The results showed that the overall climate within the operating theatre for medical undergraduates in one UK Medical School was good with no gender differences in the overall scores.
Nagraj
Shobhana
S
Birmingham Children's Hospital, Birmingham, United Kingdom.
Wall
David
D
Jones
Ellen
E
D004504:Education, Medical, Undergraduate / Q000592:standards*; D004521:Educational Measurement; D005163:Factor Analysis, Statistical; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery / Q000193:education*; D006801:Humans; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D006113:United Kingdom; D016526:Workload