MED NORD--A tool for measuring medical students' well-being and study orientations.
BACKGROUND
The relationship between medical students' well-being, motivation, and their conceptions of learning and knowledge has not been previously explored.


OBJECTIVE
This study aimed to validate a research instrument intending to measure medical students' (n = 280) (1) experiences of stress, anxiety and disinterest, (2) motivational (thinking) strategies, (3) conceptions of learning and knowledge (epistemologies), and (4) approaches to learning.


METHODS
We developed an instrument, MED NORD, which is a composition of scales measuring different theoretical constructs that previously have shown good predictive value, validity and reliability. A principal component analysis with Varimax-rotation was performed in order to see how the scales related to each other.


RESULTS
The internal consistency reliability was found to be satisfactory or good for each scale. The results showed five factors: Dysfunctional Orientation, Collaborative Knowledge Building Orientation, Cookbook Orientation, Social Orientation, and Individual Abilities Orientation. These study orientations were related to how medical students perceived their learning environment.


CONCLUSIONS
The new tool showed consistency and validity and was judged appropriate for future use in measuring medical students' well-being and study orientations.
Lonka
Kirsti
K
Karolinska Institutet, Sweden. kirsti.lonka@helsinki.fi
Sharafi
Parvaneh
P
Karlgren
Klas
K
Masiello
Italo
I
Nieminen
Juha
J
Birgegård
Gunnar
G
Josephson
Anna
A
D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D009042:Motivation; D010865:Pilot Projects; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D025341:Principal Component Analysis; D011581:Psychological Tests; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012938:Social Perception; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013548:Sweden