A Guide to Reflections

Mike Legge

January 2020

Background

Reflection and reflective practices are frequently used in education and health care professions and are considered to be important attributes to personal and professional development. Reflective practices are considered to be part of continuous professional development (CPD) programmes. However, more globally they should be considered as part of the basis for building integrated knowledge revising experiences and opportunities for inter-professional development. The key consideration for reflection is to assimilate and critique new learning and relate it to what is already known by the individual. It should be considered as an integral part of deepening an understanding of an individual’s own practice. It is, therefore a process of looking back and evaluating activities, knowledge and achievements in a critical manner i.e. it is the connection of known knowledge with new knowledge and experience.

Key considerations for reflection

Key aspects of reflection relate to the management of work and personal time i.e.

• Make time for reflection
• Is there a plan or a strategy for reflection?
• Understand outcomes for reflection
• Is there a place for both personal and peer group reflection?
• Are there outcomes or measures for developing reflective practices?
• Learning can occur in almost any situation.

From these broad considerations how can reflective practices be improved?

• Is there anything being learned?
• Is there a consolidation of learning?
• Are the techniques being used appropriate?
• How are the resources being used?
• Can this process help or inform others?

Reflection requires an ongoing strategy, which will evolve by both self-evaluation and self-assessment.

• Were there gaps in knowledge?
• What resources were needed?
• Were there areas that help was required?
• What should be changed to enhance reflection?
• Were there areas that can be shared by others
• Were there circumstances that were less than ideal? How were these considered?

Reflection and CPD

CPD requires development of a portfolio. This provides an ideal opportunity to develop reflective practices and avoid the ‘stamp collecting’ for sufficient CPD points and any audit. Areas that may be considered are:

• Has the CPD portfolio process enhanced knowledge and skills?
• Consider self-analysis of the portfolio e.g. can the information be linked and a précis of new knowledge created?
• Have any learning outcomes been developed from the portfolio?
• How might on-going CPD processes help develop new learning skills?
• Critically assess how reflective practices can be integrated into self-awareness, self-monitoring and self-regulation.

Reflection Document

Summary

The ‘Guide’ has been developed to provide a framework for considering how ‘Reflective Practices’ may develop rather than attempting to provide rules for this practice. Medicine and Pathology in general are becoming increasingly complex with disciplines rapidly changing or merging. Reflective practice is one of many processes that have evolved to accommodate changes particularly in the health care system. It provides the opportunity to explore, in an informal manner, the understanding of actions, experience and knowledge that may impact both on the individual and others with a professional community. A key consideration when embarking on reflective practices is that individuals will reflect on practice and will do so in different ways and may have different aspects on outcomes. Therefore, it is important that no quantifiable measures should be applied to reflection or the process used to develop an individual’s reflective practices.

Ethics in Medical Laboratory Practice (document for download)