Use of the PHEEM questionnaire in medical interns of 5 hospitals in Panama

Abstract

Introduction: The Postgraduate Hospital Educational Environment Measure (PHEEM) questionnaire was developed by researchers in the United Kingdom with the purpose of measuring the postgraduate clinical learning and teaching educational environment among junior doctors in hospitals.

Objective: To determine if there are differences in the perception of the postgraduate clinical learning and teaching environment among Category I intern physicians according to 5 variables: (1) the training hospital during the second year of internship; (2) the country where the medical degree was obtained (Panama vs abroad); (3) the national university where the medical degree was obtained; (4) sex, and (5) the highest academic degree obtained by the participant.

Method: A Spanish version of the PHEEM questionnaire was completed by Category I intern physicians in 5 hospitals in the Republic of Panama in 2016. The results were tabulated and analysed.

Results: A total of 96% of intern physicians completed the questionnaire. After eliminating the questionnaires with exclusion criteria, a sample of 78 questionnaires remained, which represented 80% of the total population. Four groups were formed according to the training hospital: (1) Hospital Cecilio Castillero; (2) Hospital Joaquín Pablo Franco and Hospital Anita Moreno; (3) Hospital Luis Fábrega, and (4) Hospital Aquilino Tejeira. There was difference between the training hospital groups (P = 0.0256). There was no difference according to the country where the medical degree was obtained (P = 0.3149). There was no difference according to the Panamanian university where the medical degree was obtained (P = 0.3678). There were no differences according to sex and the highest academic degree obtained by the participant (P = 0.1817 and P = 0.6113, respectively).