The purpose of this study was to appraise how medical students perceive their first-year experiences in the medical course using an adapted version of the Course Valuing Inventory (CVI), and to analyse the relationships between the CVI scores and the students' individual attributes and academic achievements. The study involved 609 students and covered a period of ten years. The results showed relative stability of CVI scores in consecutive classes and significant differences among students when grouped by sex, place of birth, career choice, and term of enrolment in the program. Other findings were the significant relationships between CVI score and self-confidence, willingness to learn and cognitive achievement, and peer tutoring activity during four consecutive terms. GLM tests (between subjects and effects) identified four principal independent factors to explain the CVI-score variability: willingness to learn, self-confidence, career choice and term of enrolment. The discussion appraises the findings in relation to concepts of the students, internal context and educational context. In conclusion, CVI responses reflect a perspective of valuing personal learning in interaction with dimensions of the educational context. Accordingly, this tool can be considered useful for the pedagogical supervision of medical students' professional initiation.
Education, Medical, Undergraduate; Students, Medical; Learning; Educational Measurement
