Reflections

As I approach the last 2 weeks of my research module, I have been reflecting a lot on research so thought I would share some of my musings with you all! Both during our studies at medical school and throughout our careers as doctors, we are expected to practice reflectively. This involves looking over our experiences, considering what went well and what could have been improved, and reflecting on how we can learn and grow both professionally and personally going forward. Personally, I find it useful to have a model to help structure my reflections, one of my favourites is Gibb’s model. This model breaks down the reflective process into; describing an event, considering your feelings about the event, separating the positives and negatives, and finally analysing it to ultimately figure out what you could do better next time. It’s not important to stick to this structure rigidly, but it can give you a helpful guide to gather your thoughts.

As part of my teaching certificate and research project I have had to write reflections for grading, which, whilst it sounds scary, I actually find useful in organising myself and getting things off my chest. I know many of you reading this will be aiming to get into medical school, and at your interview, you will be expected to have reflected on your experiences from work experience and during your previous degree, explaining how you have learned from what you have done and how this has helped your personal development.

To give you an example of how I write a reflection I have shared one with you below from my research project.

‘The most challenging aspect for me was the period of drafting the protocol. One of the most difficult aspects of this was the fact that at the same time as writing the protocol, I also still had my second-year academic commitments, so was still attending placement and trying to get signoffs to complete my engagement criteria. At times I felt as though because I was juggling two workstreams which were equally demanding [albeit in different ways], I could not give quite 100% commitment to either. At times this was frustrating as my personality is that of a perfectionist, so I find it unsatisfying to not produce work up to the highest standard. Overall, although difficult at the time, I now accept that it also taught me an important lesson on that of the life of a doctor in the 21^stcentury – increasingly doctors are embracing ‘portfolio’ careers with several themes and have to be the master of many trades. In hindsight, I should have accepted the iterative process that research is and accepted that improving upon each redraft is enough. Work doesn’t need to reach the unrealistic standard that I sometimes set myself and I also need to ensure I maintain my time for wellbeing when under a heavy workload. Being more aware of my personal tendency to perfectionism is a personal lesson I will take away and as a result in future when needing to balance many competing interests. I would take a more relaxed approach and try and get less stressed, perhaps being kinder on myself and more realistic about the quality of a 7-week research project.’

By reflecting as I go through in this way, I can think about how things are going and overall grow, in both confidence and abilities. The research module has been slower in terms of pace but it has given me a calmer period to take stock of everything I’ve learned so far and how far I’ve come from the first work experience I had in a local GP surgery when I first “tasted” medicine and realised this was what I wanted to do. The first step is a big one, but if you have an inking it may be for you; take the leap. And don’t forget to reflect on it!

Eden Villiers : 13 Nov 2019 13:59 |  Tags: Jordan Mbchb Patients Student Wards Warwick Wms |  Comments (0) |  Report a problem