Personal Reflection: A Prescription for Medical Education

Abstract

Since the time of the Second World War, patients have taken a more active role in their medical decision-making processes (Thomasma 1983). This has led to an increased expectation of professionalism, empathy, and respect from their physicians. The act of personal reflection by physicians is proposed as a means to help physicians meet these growing expectations from patients. The study of literature throughout the process of medical education has been established as a means to promote this type of personal reflection (Charon 2006). An exploration of the historical elements of this process provides a framework for the role that personal reflection plays in the practice of medicine and in the process of medical education. An analysis of key components of educating future physicians is provided, with an emphasis placed on methodologies that have been previously implemented. A review of personal reflection seminars that have been available in various medical education settings provides an understanding of factors that lead to the success and failure of such curricula, and provides the framework for a set of recommendations, a prescription, which may assist additional medical educators as they produce similar programs. Examples of personal reflection by the author are provided in order to emphasize the salient themes identified by the literature.