Reflections!

Its all about you!

Reflections dont have to take too much time, but are really important! If you get the three stages right, you should ace them.

Three stage reflections!

Selection- referred to  specific event in detail, describing your reaction

Integration- why did you act like this? draw on past experience and knowledge (cultural, education, beliefs, religion, family), describe lessons learned

Analysis- when and how will you apply the lessons learned?

Ie. Patient study, future as a medical student, as a doctor, other walks of life

Remember to ask WHY?

Brainstorm ideas

Religion, social class, gender, contrasting medical beliefs…

If you can’t think of any, sometimes it’s worth telling friends about your study mum and asking them to come up with some?

Here are mine, I Followed the 3 stages quite strictly. They seem to like that.

Communications with mother and family 

I was surprised by Naomi’s trust, openness and they way she was immediately at ease. Difficult topics were easily discussed and the interviews were very relaxed. During my medical education I have always assumed that patients will withhold information unless asked, and have been wary of intruding with probing questions. From this experience I can derive that patients attitudes to consultation are very diverse, and that different people will be comfortable with different approaches. I can apply this knowledge in future by giving time when first meeting patient to adapt my consulting style to that which they are most comfortable. 

Interactions with family and culture 

I was surprised that Naomi’s ethnicity, classed by her as ‘other’, was different to what I imagined from her accent and environment. As her origin was not immediately evident I felt unsure bringing it up. Would I come across as ignorant?  I had thought that I would find it easy to discuss ethnicity as I was educated in a culturally aware school and grew up in a diverse environment. However, I learned that often patients would not see their ethnicity to be an issue, despite the fact that it may be medically significant. This experience has allowed me to gain confidence in breaching the subject of ethnicity, and in discussing it with patients in a way that  demonstrates that I have no prejudice. 

Professionalism and attachment 

I immediately built up strong repore with my study family. The strength of the relationship between my partner, the family and I became apparent when Naomi and Andrew gave their baby our names!  We were incredibly touched by this gesture. The family was very similar to my own, and Naomi offered support as an adult medic. I recognised this situation as similar to one that I experienced on my hospital work experience when I befriended a patient who subsequently became ill, and found it very upsetting. This made me wary of becoming too attached and viewing Naomi as a ‘mother figure’. I have learned that becoming emotionally involved with a patient strays close to the boundaries of professionalism but can also bring great reward. In future I will aim to be able to step back from work and separate myself from the experiences and lives of my patients, while also building  up repore.