Reliability and Performance of SEVQUAL Survey in Evaluating Quality of Medical Education Services

Considering the importance of medical education quality in achieving a healthycommunity, there is a need for the development of valid and reliable tools for efficient measurement of quality ofmedical education services. SEVQUAL is a popular services quality measuring framework used in assessmentof quality in various service sectors. The purpose of this study was to examine the reliability and performance ofthis measurement model in the context of medical education. This study is a cross-sectional study conducted in 2012 in Kermanshah University of Medical Sciences,situated in western Iran. A sample of 383 students of medical sciences participated in this survey. SEVQUALservices quality framework was used as the measurement tool, which assesses quality of services in five relevantdimensions, including Tangibles, Assurance, Responsiveness, Reliability, and Empathy. The survey was adjustedto the medical education environment, before being administered. Validity of the construct was confirmed by apanel of independent experts. The internal consistency reliability of the survey was measured using Cronbach’salpha. Data were summarized using descriptive statistical methods. T-test and ANOVA were used to compare themean values. P < 0.05 was considered to represent statistical significance. While a reliability of 0.88 was obtained for the overall construct, the reliability of all individual dimensionswas marginally (less that 0.1) below the threshold of 0.7. All items and dimensions showed a negative gap.A total gap of -1.58 was identified for the entire construct. The largest gap in medical education dimensions wasidentified for Responsiveness (-1.76), whereas the smallest gap was related to Reliability (-1.33). No significantdifference in the total gap was identified between different demographic groups. Tangibles dimension showed asignificantly wider gap as perceived by female students compared to their male counterparts (P = 0.034). In addition,the Tangibles gap dimension was significantly different among students in different disciplines (P = 0.004). Cronbach’s alpha coefficients indicated an adequate reliability for the entire construct and a marginallyinadequate reliability for the individual dimensions. This observation calls for further large-scale studies toachieve certain conclusion about the reliability of SERVQUAL use in the context of medical education services.Observation of an absolute negative gap in all items and dimenions, highlights the need for immediate investigationof causative factors, followed by devising and implementing improvement strategies.