Feasibility and psychometric analysis of graduate satisfaction survey of medical students graduating from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland-Medical University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain)

Abstract

To assess the satisfaction levels of graduates of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland University of Bahrain (RCSI Bahrain). The graduate survey was administered to four groups of graduates of the RCSI Bahrain who graduated between the years 2010 and 2014. The graduate survey assessed five major domains and comprised 41 items. The RCSI Bahrain opened its doors in 2004, with the first class graduating in 2010. The graduate cohorts used in this study were working in various countries at the time of survey completion. Out of 599 graduates, 153 responded to the graduate survey. The total mean response rate of the graduate survey was 26 %, including 102 females, 44 males, and 7 students who did not indicate their gender. 49 students graduated in 2012, and 53 students graduated in 2013. Of these graduates, 83 were working in Bahrain at the time of survey administration, 11 in the USA, 4 in Malta, and 3 in the UK; the total number of countries where graduates were working was 14. Reliability analysis found high internal consistency for the instrument (with a Cronbach's α of 0.97). The whole instrument was found to be suitable for factor analysis (KMO = 0.853; Bartlett test significant, p < 0.00). Factor analysis showed that the data on the questionnaire decomposed into five factors, which accounted for 72.3 % of the total variance: future performance, career development, skills development, graduate as collaborator, and communication skills. The survey results found that graduates of the RCSI Bahrain program who responded to this questionnaire are generally satisfied with their experience at the university, feel well prepared to join the field and feel ready to compete with graduates of competing universities. Furthermore, the graduate survey was found to be a reliable instrument and we provided some evidence to support the construct validity of the instrument.

Keywords: Graduate survey; Reliability; Validity.