Tools for Assessing Professional Identity in Health Profession Education: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Abstract Background Learning about the formation and development of professional identity and its principled planning in universities play an essential role in the development of the identity of individuals in educational and professional environments. Although the formation and development of identity is the main goal of Health Profession Education, due to the complexity of this process and its multidimensional nature, appropriate measurement and evaluation criteria are not readily available. To address this gap, a scoping review was conducted to explore current knowledge in assessing professional identity and map directions for future research. Methods The present scoping review was conducted based on the five-step framework of Arksey and O'Malley. At first, the research question was formulated. Then, PubMed, Eric, ProQuest, Scopus databases and Google scholar search engine were systematically searched until September 2022. The two authors independently selected all articles based on screening eligibility criteria and charted the data. Finally, the eligible articles were analyzed using descriptive analysis of studies on the characteristics and psychometrics of the tools and their underlying theories. Results After extensive searching 9,924 studies were identified. 162 studies were selected for full-text review of which 17 articles were eligible to be included. More than half of the articles were from England and Japan. Most of the target group was studies on nursing and medical students. In 14 studies included, tools and psychometric properties were mentioned. Several theories were used to develop professional identity assessment tools. Identity theories were the basis for designing or developing most tools. In identity theories, social identity theory and Kagan's constructive-developmental theory were used more than others. Conclusions The results of this scoping review will help researchers to choose or develop reliable and valid tools in accordance with clear conceptual and theoretical frameworks to measure and evaluate the formation and development of professional identity in Health Profession Education. Developing comprehensive tools that underpin the appropriate conceptual framework provides the possibility of evaluating the continuous and nonlinear process of the formation and development of professional identity which can be implemented at a large scale.