Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise in Finland: a preliminary investigation introducing the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument

Abstract

Introduction: Teaching medical professionalism is increasingly acknowledged as an important aspect of medical education. The Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) is an assessment tool for evaluating medical professionalism, but no studies using it as a self-assessment instrument have been reported. This paper reports on a preliminary investigation of the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument as an assessment and self-assessment measure. Methods: The sample in the present cross-sectional study comprised all 23 medical students and recent graduates (15 females and 8 males) participating in a summer school of psychiatry program in 2014. The two-month program combines clinical work with multifaceted teaching and intensive tutoring. At the end of the program, the participants’ medical professionalism was assessed by the tutors and other members of the work community as well as the students themselves using the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument. The P-MEX scores were compared, using the Friedman test. Results: The mean values and SD for the P-MEX assessments were as follows: tutor assessment 3.26±0.21, work community assessment 3.23±0.26 and self-assessment 3.01±0.07. No significant gender differences were observed. The tutor and work community assessments were significantly correlated (r=0.573, p=0.040), but the self-assessment scores did not correlate with either of the other assessments. Overall, the students evaluated their skills significantly poorer in comparison to the other assessments. Conclusion: Although the small sample size limits the generalization of these preliminary results, the Finnish version of the P-MEX instrument appears to be a feasible measure of medical professionalism. The instrument can also be used as a self-assessment instrument, but subjective evaluations should be complemented with external assessments or feedback in order to take individual and cultural aspects into account