Anesthesiology residents’ perception towards educational environment using ATEEM in a medical school in Thailand

Background: Educational environment is related to the learning achievement to assess and certify knowledge, ability to practice the medicine profession of residents very much. The Anesthetic Trainee Theatre Educational Environment Measure (ATEEM) instrument is designed for assessing the perception of the educational environment of anesthesiology residents. The purpose of this research was to develop a Thai version of the ATEEM instrument to be used for effective evaluation in Thailand. Methods: We conducted a descriptive cross-sectional study in order to assess the applicability of the Thai version of the ATEEM instrument with 170 anesthesiology residents. The questionnaire was assessed for reliability using coefficient of internal consistency with Cronbach’s alpha and split-half reliability. The item-objective congruence (IOC) index and item content validity index (I-CVI) were calculated for content validity. Student’s t test was used to compare residents’ perceived scores between sexes and age groups. Results: In all, 95 of 170 anesthesiology residents completed questionnaires in the inventory (a response rate of 55.9%). The overall mean ATEEM score was 122.9/160 (76.8%), which indicated more positive than negative perceptions. Cronbach’s alpha was 0.931, and five subdomains had Cronbach’s alphas greater than 0.7, indicating acceptable reliability. Split-half reliability was 0.95. All items had range values for IOC and I-CVI between 0.67 -1.00, and S-CVI/Ave was 0.98. Conclusion: The Thai version of the educational environment questionnaire showed that acceptable reliability and validity, indicating it can be used for appropriate and accurate assessment of the perception of Thai anesthesiology residents. ATEEM is a culture independent questionnaire that can be used with both anesthesiology residents and medical students who study in the operating room without specific restrictions or effects from nation or culture.