Evidence for validity of a survey to measure the learning environment for professionalism.

Background: With the emphasis on professionalism in academic health settings, including recently added accreditation requirements for US medical schools, there is a need for a valid and feasible method to assess the learning environment for professionalism.

Aim:  This article describes the development and investigation of the validity of a brief measure, the learning environment for professionalism (LEP) survey, designed to assess medical student perceptions of professionalism among residents and faculty during clinical rotations.

Method:  Two successive cohorts of third-year medical students completed the 22-item LEP survey at the conclusion of clerkship rotations, providing a total of 902 responses for scale reliability and principal components factor analysis, as well as assessment of changes in scores over time and correlations with a related clerkship evaluation item.