Abstract
Promoting reflection on experience and developing students’ reflective
skills is an important element of curricula across the health professions.
Students often do not find reflection easy and educators use
a range of approaches to facilitate this. This qualitative study analysed
final year medical students’ written reflections about important and
difficult concepts they had encountered at medical school and personal
change. As part of this, students were expected to look back on
their written reflections from earlier years of the undergraduate programme.
An initial analysis identified ‘learning from past reflections’ as
an important theme. Here we report an in-depth analysis of this theme.
Thirty-six final year volunteer students’ reflections were analysed and 6
themes identified where students explicitly referred to earlier written
reflections. These were: managing emotions; holistic, patient-centred
care; uncertainty and ambiguity; self-regulation; growth in identity and
sense of self efficacy; and reflective practice changes. Asking students
to reflect on past reflections appeared to help students identify personal
change, and how their understanding of ‘important concepts’ and
their views and approach to reflective practice have developed.
Experienced by students as a motivating, profound, sometimes cathartic
process, this activity could be a useful addition to reflective
writing training in health professions.
skills is an important element of curricula across the health professions.
Students often do not find reflection easy and educators use
a range of approaches to facilitate this. This qualitative study analysed
final year medical students’ written reflections about important and
difficult concepts they had encountered at medical school and personal
change. As part of this, students were expected to look back on
their written reflections from earlier years of the undergraduate programme.
An initial analysis identified ‘learning from past reflections’ as
an important theme. Here we report an in-depth analysis of this theme.
Thirty-six final year volunteer students’ reflections were analysed and 6
themes identified where students explicitly referred to earlier written
reflections. These were: managing emotions; holistic, patient-centred
care; uncertainty and ambiguity; self-regulation; growth in identity and
sense of self efficacy; and reflective practice changes. Asking students
to reflect on past reflections appeared to help students identify personal
change, and how their understanding of ‘important concepts’ and
their views and approach to reflective practice have developed.
Experienced by students as a motivating, profound, sometimes cathartic
process, this activity could be a useful addition to reflective
writing training in health professions.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 826-838 |
Number of pages | 13 |
Journal | Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives |
Volume | 25 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
Publication status | Published - 1 Oct 2024 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Philosophy
Keywords
- Reflective practice
- medical education
- reflective writing
- university students
- value of reflection