tailieunhanh - Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education: a systematic review

Duke and Appleton (2000) examined 160 nursing assignments in the context of a one year palliative care program. The development of reflective skills over time was assessed by a Wilcoxon paired signed-rank test on data from 51 students who took two modules in different terms during the year. The results suggested that reflective practice did develop over time. Students could readily provide descriptive information about their practice but found the analysis of knowledge and the context of care more difficult. Williams and Wessel (2004) reported evidence of development of reflective thinking in their analysis of 48 physical therapy students’ journal writing during an 8-week academic unit in a 24-month. | Adv in Health Sci Educ 2009 14 595-621 DOI s10459-007-9090-2 REFLECTIONS Reflection and reflective practice in health professions education a systematic review Karen Mann Jill Gordon Anna MacLeod Received 25 June 2007 Accepted 5 November 2007 Published online 23 November 2007 Springer Science Business Media . 2007 Abstract The importance of reflection and reflective practice are frequently noted in the literature indeed reflective capacity is regarded by many as an essential characteristic for professional competence. Educators assert that the emergence of reflective practice is part of a change that acknowledges the need for students to act and to think professionally as an integral part of learning throughout their courses of study integrating theory and practice from the outset. Activities to promote reflection are now being incorporated into undergraduate postgraduate and continuing medical education and across a variety of health professions. The evidence to support and inform these curricular interventions and innovations remains largely theoretical. Further the literature is dispersed across several fields and it is unclear which approaches may have efficacy or impact. We therefore designed a literature review to evaluate the existing evidence about reflection and reflective practice and their utility in health professional education. Our aim was to understand the key variables influencing this educational process identify gaps in the evidence and to explore any implications for educational practice and research. Keywords Health professional education Practicing health professionals Health professional students Reflection Reflective practice Systematic literature review Introduction Today s health care professionals must function in complex and changing health care systems continuously refresh and update their knowledge and skills and frame and solve K. Mann S Division of Medical Education Faculty of Medicine Dalhousie University Halifax NS Canada