title: Introducing the Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) in Japan: results from a multicenter, cross-sectional study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Despite the growing importance of and interest in medical professionalism, there is no standardized tool for its measurement. The authors sought to verify the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX), a previously developed and tested tool, in the context of Japanese hospitals.
  
  
  METHODS
  A multicenter, cross-sectional evaluation study was performed to investigate the validity, reliability, and generalizability of the P-MEX in seven Japanese hospitals. In 2009-2010, 378 evaluators (attending physicians, nurses, peers, and junior residents) completed 360-degree assessments of 165 residents and fellows using the P-MEX. The content validity and criterion-related validity were examined, and the construct validity of the P-MEX was investigated by performing confirmatory factor analysis through a structural equation model. The reliability was tested using generalizability analysis.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The contents of the P-MEX achieved good acceptance in a preliminary working group, and the poststudy survey revealed that 302 (79.9%) evaluators rated the P-MEX items as appropriate, indicating good content validity. The correlation coefficient between P-MEX scores and external criteria was 0.78 (P < .001), demonstrating good criterion-related validity. Confirmatory factor analysis verified high path coefficient (0.60-0.99) and adequate goodness of fit of the model. The generalizability analysis yielded a high dependability coefficient, suggesting good reliability, except when evaluators were peers or junior residents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Findings show evidence of adequate validity, reliability, and generalizability of the P-MEX in Japanese hospital settings. The P-MEX is the only evaluation tool for medical professionalism verified in both a Western and East Asian cultural context.
authors.affiliation: Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA. ytsugawa@bidmc.harvard.edu
authors.forename: Yusuke
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tsugawa
authors.forename: Sadayoshi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ohbu
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cruess
authors.forename: Sylvia
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cruess
authors.forename: Tomoya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Okubo
authors.forename: Osamu
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Takahashi
authors.forename: Yasuharu
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tokuda
authors.forename: Brian S
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Heist
authors.forename: Seiji
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bito
authors.forename: Toshiyuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Itoh
authors.forename: Akiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Aoki
authors.forename: Tsutomu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Chiba
authors.forename: Tsuguya
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fukui
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007564:Japan; D008297:Male; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D011361:Professional Competence; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D017748:Time Management