Background: Reflection is increasingly significant for dental students and professionals and is a continuing requirement of dental regulatory bodies. There is a paucity of evidence regarding how best to facilitate deep reflection for dental students. This study explored whether the use of clinical logbooks in undergraduate clinical attachments in Paediatric Dentistry was facilitating deep reflection. Methods: This qualitative study used individual interviews for data collection. This was conducted at the University of Sheffield with third year undergraduate dental students and clinical teaching staff. Interviews were immediately transcribed verbatim. A reflexive approach to thematic analysis was used to co-constitute the data, enabling the development of the thematic framework. Results: The sample compromised 10 students and 4 educators. Thematic analysis generated 4 key themes: understanding of reflection, preparation for reflection, importance of learning through experience, and suggestions for development. The findings indicated that students perceived that they were not being supported in engaging in deep reflection by the use of a clinical logbook and that greater preparation for reflection would be beneficial. Conclusions: The current study revealed that using clinical logbooks during clinical attachments in Paediatric Dentistry was not facilitating deep reflection. Further research is required to explore how deep reflection can be facilitated for undergraduate dental students undertaking clinical learning.
Reflection is an essential component of the learning process that helps to elicit deeper learning. In healthcare, this uses experiential activities to produce knowledge that compels the clinician to change their practice. Deep reflection allows one to explore emotions associated with challenging learning experiences, empowering reinterpretation of these experiences and removing barriers to further learning. Reflection is a key requirement of dental education at all stages. This paper aims to explore the existing literature on reflective practice in dentistry and identify areas for further research to improve reflective practice within dentistry. Traditional methods of reflecting through written means are not facilitating the deep reflection which is desired. A systematic overhaul of reflective practice is suggested, involving a shift away from structured written reflections. There is little evidence to inform the most appropriate format for reflective practice in dental education. There is a need for further research to determine the effectiveness of reflective practice in dental education, particularly as a move away from structured written reflection to more creative reflective opportunities are encouraged. Greater exploration of barriers to reflection in dentistry is indicated, with consideration to how these may be overcome and a need to engage regulatory bodies in system-wide changes.
Background: Deep reflective practice is important in healthcare education to allow students to explore emotions associated with the learning experience, access deeper learning and develop their personal and professional identity. Previous research demonstrated that the current methods of reflective practice using logbooks at the end of a clinical session to facilitate reflection within this setting were viewed as suboptimal by staff and student users. To address this problem co-creation, or a 'students as partners' approach, was used to develop and implement a comprehensive intervention to facilitate deep reflection for undergraduate dental students. This included the production of educational resources, and development of an online safe space to reflect. Approach:In this paper we discuss the process of using co-creation with undergraduate dental students as a research methodology to successfully produce curricular change with respect to reflective practice by involving the voice and experience of student partners. These student partners were part of a team that included researchers and teaching staff and worked with other stakeholders within the institution within a wider team.Evaluation: This paper demonstrates the positive benefits of using co-creation with undergraduate dental students for students such as increased confidence, developing professional and personal skills and impacting meaningful change.
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