ABSTRACT The study investigated the degree to which medical students' health care reform perceptions, self-efficacy, role ambiguity, and year in medical school play a role in the degree to which they are committed to their medical degree and their most likely specialty choice. The study utilized the Health Care Reform Thoughts Survey (HCRTS; Goodin, 2010) to measure medical students' perceptions of the health care reform. Measurement modeling of the HCRTS instrument resulted in a 3 factor solution with a marginal fit, χ2(776) = 3,177.835, p < .001, CFI = .898, TLI = .893, RMSEA = .065, and SRMR = .052. The subscales of the instrument included Outlook (the extent of negativity toward the reform), Reaction (the degree to which medical students intend to modify their goals with respect to the reform), and Uncertainty (the perceived stability of the reform and its future). Students in Year 3 had significantly more Role Ambiguity than students in all other years. Specifically, they had a mean difference of 0.252 (p < .001) with Year 1, the control variable for Year. Reaction had a significant association with Role Ambiguity and Self-efficacy (β = 0.241, p < .001 and β = -0.247, p < .001, respectively). Both Role Ambiguity and Self-efficacy were found to be significantly associated with Specialty Commitment (β = -0.160, p < .001 and β = 0.128, p < .001, respectively). Finally, in the structural equation model, all predictors (Outlook, Reaction, Uncertainty, Year, Self-efficacy, and Role Ambiguity) were found to explain 29.1% of the variance in Specialty Commitment (p < .001). Findings suggest that the HCRTS be a continued resource in measuring the health care perceptions of medical students and other populations in modified form. Implications of the research findings are that medical student commitment to their career goals is affected by their perceptions of the health reform. Medical education must consider the impact of the reform in order to support the needs of medical students and public medical needs within the changing health care landscape. / A Dissertation submitted to the Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of
Philosophy. / Summer Semester, 2013. / June 3, 2013. / Critical Life Events, Health Care Reform, Medical Education, Role Ambiguity,
Self-efficacy, Specialty Choice / Includes bibliographical references. / Beth M. Phillips, Professor Directing Dissertation; Yanyun Yang, Professor Co-Directing Dissertation; Vanessa P. Dennen, Committee Member; Kathleen M. Clark, University Representative.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_183734 |
| Contributors | Goodin, Joel Bryant (authoraut), Phillips, Beth M. (professor directing dissertation), Yang, Yanyun (professor co-directing dissertation), Dennen, Vanessa P. (committee member), Clark, Kathleen M. (university representative), Department of Educational Psychology and Learning Systems (degree granting department), Florida State University (degree granting institution) |
| Publisher | Florida State University, Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English, English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text, text |
| Format | 1 online resource, computer, application/pdf |
| Rights | This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). The copyright in theses and dissertations completed at Florida State University is held by the students who author them. |
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