Reflective Practices in Health Professions Education
Summary
Reflective practice occupies a central role in the education of doctors, nurses, allied health professionals and other clinicians. Drawing on theoretical foundations from Dewey, Schön and Kolb, it encourages learners to engage deliberately with their clinical experiences, interrogating assumptions, emotions and decisions to foster deeper insight. Through modalities such as written journals, facilitated small-group debriefings and digital platforms, reflection bridges the gap between theory and practice, promoting critical thinking, ethical awareness and resilience. It underpins the development of professional identity, cultivating empathy, self-awareness and a commitment to lifelong learning. As healthcare systems grow in complexity and interprofessional collaboration becomes ever more essential, reflective practice has expanded to include creative and technology-mediated approaches, supporting equitable access and personalised learning pathways. Educators worldwide integrate reflection into curricula, assessment frameworks and faculty development to ensure that reflective habits remain evidence-informed, contextually relevant and geared towards improved patient care.
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Reflective Practices in Health Professions Education publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in reflective practices in health professions education across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Reflective practice: A deliberate process of examining one’s experiences, actions and underlying assumptions to inform future professional behaviour.
Reflective writing: The act of recording thoughts, emotions and lessons learned from clinical experiences to develop insight and critical self-appraisal.
Critical reflection: A deeper level of reflection that questions the values, power dynamics and contextual factors shaping practice.
Professional identity formation: The evolving internalisation of professional norms, values and roles through experiential learning and reflection.
Interprofessional education: A learning approach in which members of different health disciplines collaborate to improve teamwork and patient outcomes.
References
- Effectiveness of a critical reflection competency program for clinical nurse educators: a pilot study. BMC Nursing (2023).
- Use of an Artificial Intelligence-Driven Digital Platform for Reflective Learning to Support Continuing Medical and Professional Education and Opportunities for Interprofessional Education and Equitable Access. Education Sciences (2023).
- A systematic scoping review of reflective writing in medical education. BMC Medical Education (2023).
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