MED NORD--A tool for measuring medical students' well-being and study orientations.

Background: The relationship between medical students' well-being, motivation, and their conceptions of learning and knowledge has not been previously explored.

Aims: This study aimed to validate a research instrument intending to measure medical students' (n = 280) (1) experiences of stress, anxiety and disinterest, (2) motivational (thinking) strategies, (3) conceptions of learning and knowledge (epistemologies), and (4) approaches to learning.

Methods: We developed an instrument, MED NORD, which is a composition of scales measuring different theoretical constructs that previously have shown good predictive value, validity and reliability. A principal component analysis with Varimax-rotation was performed in order to see how the scales related to each other.

Results: The internal consistency reliability was found to be satisfactory or good for each scale. The results showed five factors: Dysfunctional Orientation, Collaborative Knowledge Building Orientation, Cookbook Orientation, Social Orientation, and Individual Abilities Orientation. These study orientations were related to how medical students perceived their learning environment.

Conclusions: The new tool showed consistency and validity and was judged appropriate for future use in measuring medical students' well-being and study orientations.