Interprofessional Differences in Multidimensional Self-Efficacy Associated With Professional Performance in...

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Nephrology
• Healthcare Professional Development

Background:

• Postgraduate medical education emphasizes continuous learning in rapidly evolving fields like nephrology.
• Case-based learning (CBL) is a key learner-centered approach for enhancing decision-making skills.
• Limited research exists on the association between learning self-efficacy (SE) and academic performance in postgraduate nephrology, particularly regarding interprofessional differences.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate the association between learning SE and professional SE in nephrology among physicians and nurses.
• To explore interprofessional differences in how learning SE dimensions relate to professional performance in chronic kidney disease (CKD) care.

Main Methods:

• Prospective enrollment of 513 physicians and nurses involved in CKD care in Taiwan (2022).
• Administration of the Professional Medical Learning Self-efficacy (PMLS) questionnaire post-CBL sessions.
• Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) and structural equation modeling (SEM) to assess associations between 5 learning SE dimensions and professional SE.

Main Results:

• The PMLS questionnaire demonstrated satisfactory convergent and construct validity.
• Higher professional SE in nephrology was significantly associated with all 5 learning SE dimensions for both physicians and nurses.
• Specific associations varied by profession: physicians showed links with conceptual understanding (CU) and practical work (PW), while nurses showed links with higher-order cognitive skills (HC) and medical science communication (MSC).

Conclusions:

• Learning SE is a significant determinant of professional performance in nephrology.
• The influence of specific SE dimensions on professional performance differs between physicians and nurses.