Measuring the medical school educational environment: Validating an approach from Saudi Arabia

Objective: This study is an empirical analysis of the female students’ attitudes toward the medical educational environment and climate in the College of Medicine at King Khalid University. Setting: The Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) questionnaire was administered on the same day to 100 female students studying in the third (pre-clinical), fifth and sixth (final) year at the College of Medicine, King Khalid University. Although the sample size was limited in size, it was deemed acceptable for research purposes. Method: The study is conducted using the DREEM questionnaire. This study is different from other studies regarding testing hypothesis and advanced statistical analysis. A set of hypotheses were placed and examined using statistical techniques. Results: In general, we find that the total mean score was 112.95 out of a 200 maximum, the ideal educational environment as measured by this scale. All the hypotheses set were rejected and there was no difference in the results according to year of study such as the difference found in some previous studies. It was found that there are no statistically significant differences in the mean scores according to the year of study. Conclusion: This study follows a long literature of studies in different universities around the world using the DREEM scale. The limitations of previous studies were considered carefully and were used to provide a framework for this work. These results spotlight the need to improve the medical educational environment in Saudi universities in general. This study has highlighted some areas where further research and analysis is recommended.