Enhancing Reflective Practice in Medical Education
Author Information
Author(s): William MacAskill, Hannah Woodall, Claire Dorothea Nicholls, Kay Brumpton, Janani Pinidiyapathirage
Primary Institution: Griffith University
Hypothesis
Can reflective writing prompts improve medical students' reflective capacity and understanding of rural social determinants of health?
Conclusion
Reflective writing prompts helped students reflect on a broader range of topics related to rural health, but did not significantly enhance higher-order thinking.
Supporting Evidence
- Most students found the reflective writing prompts helpful in overcoming writer's block.
- Participants reported that the prompts increased the breadth of topics reflected upon.
- 87% of students demonstrated lower-order thinking in their reflections.
Takeaway
The study found that giving medical students prompts to help them think about their experiences made them better at reflecting on different aspects of patient care.
Methodology
The study used focus groups and thematic analysis to evaluate the impact of reflective writing prompts on medical students' reflections.
Limitations
The study had lower recruitment of Year 3 students and did not assess the impact of prompts on oral presentations.
Participant Demographics
Participants included 27 medical students in their third and fourth years and 10 educators from a rural clinical school.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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