Reflecting is not only an essential aspect of the life of a doctor but I have found it applicable to day-to-day life experiences. In general, I’m a reflective person as this is one of the ways I learn and grow. Today I will focus on the different ways I reflect as a doctor. Below are some of the different scenarios you can reflect on as a doctor.
- An interesting case
- A significant clinical incident
- An exciting experience eg a community visit
- A teaching
The RCPSYCH portfolio makes it easy for you to reflect as it divided the entry into subheadings as follows.
- Title of the reflection
- Date (Start date & End date)
- Tags( This is optional)
- Description of a notable clinical or non-clinical experience
- What you learned from the experience
- The feedback you received from your colleagues
- What further skills you need to develop as a result of this experience.
Tips for writing the reflection
- Anonymise patient information( make sure there are no patient identifiers)
- Aim to be brief and concise
- You can add an update as a follow-up to a reflection.
Finally, you don’t have to document many reflections in your portfolio but just practice the art of reflecting as a doctor. It’s very key to learning. On average 1 to 2 reflections every 6-month rotation should be enough.