Reflection in Clinical Education: Exploring Continued Student Ability Following Didactic Reflective Intervention
Purpose/Hypothesis: Adaptive critical thinking is necessary for physical therapy students to thrive in clinical practice and produce clinically significant changes and improvements in functional outcomes of patients. Self-reflection is the ability to integrate or explore an experience to develop a new application, solution, or understanding and is an essential skill needed for clinical decision making in today’s complex healthcare system. The purpose of this study was to explore potential mechanisms of continued reflective practice among DPT students in the first full-time clinical experience following a learner-centered reflective practice intervention in the didactic curriculum.
Number of Subjects: 44 2nd year DPT Students
Materials and Methods: Constant comparative analysis process of open, axial and selective coding leading to thematic development was employed for both student and Clinical Instructor CPI narrative data in the following categories; Professional Practice, Safety, Professional Behavior, Professional Development, Clinical Reasoning, Evaluation, and summative comments of Strengths, Areas for Further Development and Recommendations. Triangulation of student, CI and quantitative data increased trustworthiness of emergent themes.
Results: Thematic analysis focused on mechanisms of reflective practice of DPT students during first full-time clinical experiences. Emergent themes in both clinical instructor and student’s narrative CPI comments included; self-awareness during uncertainty in clinical practice, development of professional formation, growth from experiential learning and importance of feedback, and adaptability through use of critical thinking. This theoretical framework aligns with themes identified from previous didactic reflective intervention.
Conclusions: Continued reflective practice was evident in clinical education experience among DPT students. Guided reflection that is learner-centered occurring within didactic curriculum may assist in development of professional formation and life-long learning behaviors encompassed in affective domain performance. Creating learners who engage in self-reflection prior to first exposure to full-time clinical experience is essential to foster development of clinical reasoning and adaptive skills necessary for today’s complex health care environment.
Clinical Relevance: The results of this study show continued engagement in reflective practice after intentional learner-centered intervention allows for deeper growth in self-awareness and reflective abilities during experiential learning.