A pilot study of the anatomical self-efficacy instrument for clinical clerkships (ASEI-CC).

Abstract

Self-efficacy and anatomical knowledge have been shown to be important in the development of medical students. Validated instruments designed to measure the construct of anatomical self-efficacy during the clinical years of medical school are limited. In this study, the Anatomical Self-Efficacy Instrument for Clinical Clerkships (ASEI-CC) was developed, and evidence for the reliability of the scores and the validity of the interpretations of the scores was gathered. The ASEI-CC consisted of 10- Likert-type items designed to measure anatomical self-efficacy, with higher scores indicating higher levels of anatomical self-efficacy. To conduct pilot testing for the ASEI-CC, a sample of 99 medical students rotating through the medicine, surgery, pediatrics, neurology, family medicine, and obstetrics and gynecology clerkships at a Southeastern institution in 2023 was recruited to complete an anonymous survey at the conclusion of an anatomy workshop. In the sample of 99 medical students in this study, the observed means of the scores on the items of the ASEI-CC ranged from 3.84 to 4.37, representing an average response of "fairly confident" to "very confident" on each item. Exploratory factor analysis with principal axis factoring yielded a unidimensional factor structure that explained 62.6% of the variance, with all 10 items having a factor loading greater than 0.4. This study provides evidence that supports the reliability of scores and the validity of the interpretations of scores on the ASEI-CC and extends scholarship about the anatomical self-efficacy of medical students to the clinical years of the medical school curriculum.