Examination of a modified version of the psychological medical inventory among medical students

Background: The Psychological Medical Inventory (PMI) assesses the level of interest, confidence, and perceived clinical abilities in addressing psychological aspects of patient care. The scale has been used solely among physicians and other healthcare professionals. Aims: To examine the psychometric properties and factor structure of a modified student version (PMI-S) of the PMI among medical students. Method: Sixty eight freshmen medical students completed a self-reporting questionnaire that included the PMI-S scale and a measure of perceived overall communication abilities. Results: Consistent with the original scale, the factor analysis yielded a two-factor solution-psychological abilities and psychological sensitivity. The modified scale also demonstrated a high percentage of explained variance. Additionally, positive correlations were found between students' ratings of their perceived psychological abilities, psychological sensitivity, total scale score, and overall communication abilities. Conclusions: The results support the factor structure of the original scale. The PMI-S scale might be incorporated in the evaluation of the effectiveness of psycho-educational programs and interventions aimed at improving the psychosocial abilities of students of medicine and health professions. Further examination of the scale with a larger sample size is needed.