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Reflective Practice

Dr Caroline WhelanGP RegistrarAugust 2012

+Why do we need it?

We have to do it to pass

To find gaps in our knowledge so we can address them & then apply what we learn

To widen our professional boundaries

To benchmark our performance against our peers & supervisors

To develop as adaptive experts

To generate the questions that might enable service improvement or research

+What constitutes reflective practice?

Observing what is obvious & less obvious look for the unfamiliar

Self-awareness What you sense or feel about the experience Use of I

Self-regulation Recognise your own boundaries Check against competencies

+What constitutes reflective practice?

Internal conversation How you feel about the situation Write about your reaction to the situation Use feeling words

Openness You are willing to highlight areas of your performance that

fall short of what might be expected

Learning Show what you need to learn & be specific about how you

are going to achieve this

+How do we actually do it?

Learning log

Record of professional development

Quality not quantity But......if there is insufficient quantity then it is unlikely that

an adequate quality will have been demonstated & the areas of the curriculum are unlikely to have been covered.  

A list of descriptive entries is not acceptable

+What to write about

Chose meaningful experiences

Important to think why have you chosen this specific case

Cover all areas of the GP curriculum (check by clicking on review preparation)

Difficult patient encounters

Difficult encounters with staff

Things which went well

Significant event analyses

+The e-Portfolio template

What happened?

What if anything happened subsequently?

What did you learn?

What will you do differently in future?

What further learning needs did you identify?

How and when will you address them?

+What happened?

Brief synopsis which puts the case into context

Include emotions you were feeling at the time so reflections can be made on these

Did the case remind you of a previous case or past experience? 

Don’t be afraid to be critical of your own actions  

How did your colleagues react to the situation?

+What if anything happened subsequently?

Complete the story

Reflect on how you feel about the situation now

+What did you learn?

New medical knowledge How will this help you in your future practice?

Concerns about your own ability/thought processing How it will make you change?

Insight into your own attitudes & beliefs How did the case challenge you? How will it make you change?

Implications on service provision

+What will you do differently in future?

Turn your learning needs into actions

What will you do differently next time 

What would you like to improve

+What further learning needs have you identified? Specific short term goals

Relate these to the GP curriculum Can be knowledge/behaviour based 

Plus longer term goals to help you become a good GP

Break it down into manageable tasks

Set a time scale (be realistic) 

Move it to your PDP (then do a log entry about your learning to complete the cycle)

 

+PDP

Simple

Measurable

Achievable

Relevant

Time based

+Useful websites

http://eastkentgpvts.co.uk/education.htm

East of England Deanery GP page – click on resources and download the Being a Reflective GP PDF