title: Cross-cultural challenges for assessing medical professionalism among clerkship physicians in a Middle Eastern country (Bahrain): feasibility and psychometric properties of multisource feedback.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  We aimed to design, implement, and evaluate the feasibility and reliability of a multisource feedback (MSF) system to assess interns in their clerkship year in the Middle Eastern culture, the Kingdom of Bahrain.
  
  
  METHODS
  The study was undertaken in the Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, a military teaching hospital in the Kingdom of Bahrain. A total of 21 interns (who represent the total population of the interns for the given year) were assessed in this study. All of the interns were rotating through our hospital during their year-long clerkship rotation. The study sample consisted of nine males and 12 females. Each participating intern was evaluated by three groups of raters, eight medical intern colleagues, eight senior medical colleagues, and eight coworkers from different departments.
  
  
  RESULTS
  A total of 21 interns (nine males and 12 females) were assessed in this study. The total mean response rates were 62.3%. A factor analysis was conducted that found that the data on the questionnaire grouped into three factors that counted for 76.4% of the total variance. These three factors were labeled as professionalism, collaboration, and communication. Reliability analysis indicated that the full instrument scale had high internal consistency (Cronbach's α 0.98). The generalizability coefficients for the surveys were estimated to be 0.78.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Based on our results and analysis, we conclude that the MSF tool we used on the interns rotating in their clerkship year within our Middle Eastern culture provides an effective method of evaluation because it offers a reliable, valid, and feasible process.
authors: Department of General Surgery, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain ; Surgical Department, Arabian Gulf University, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain ; Medical Education Department, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland - Bahrain, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Ahmed
authors: A
authors: Al Ansari
authors: Department of General Surgery, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Khalid
authors: K
authors: Al Khalifa
authors: Department of General Surgery, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Mohamed
authors: M
authors: Al Azzawi
authors: Department of General Surgery, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Rashed
authors: R
authors: Al Amer
authors: Department of Internal Medicine, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Dana
authors: D
authors: Al Sharqi
authors: Department of Dietetics and Nutrition, Bahrain Defense Force Hospital, Riffa, Kingdom of Bahrain.
authors: Anwar
authors: A
authors: Al-Mansoor
authors: College of Medicine, King Fahad Medical City, King Saud Bin Abdulaziz University for Health Sciences, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
authors: Fadi M
authors: FM
authors: Munshi
keywords: MSF system; generalizability; interns; validity