Using diaries for medical students on in-service course

Authors

Kuikka
L*
Nevalainen
M*
and Salokekkilä
P.

Theme

Portfolios and ePortfolios

Category

Portfolios

INSTITUTION

University Helsinki, Department of General Practice* , Helsinki City Health Center,Finland

Conclusion

The second year students showed an improved understanding towards people coming from various life contexts. Diaries changed their  attitudes and enhanced their reflections on their perceptions.

Background

The writing of a reflective diary is viewed as an effective tool for promoting reflection and learning in students, and for self-assessment and evaluation of a clinical learning experience.

EXPERIENCE                                                                             

(5 visits to health care practices)                               

Reflection in action:noticing,interviening,personal founding of the experience,intent                                    

REFLECTION

Return to experience: positive feelings, negative feelings,re-evaluation of the experience

RESULTS/LEARNING DIARIES

Create new ideas of existing views and perceptions 

(Boud 1985)

Summary of Work

This work is a qualitative study of 50 undergraduate (2nd-year) medical students’ reflective diaries of their five visits to the community health care practice. Students interviewed people of various ages and contexts (older people from home care, people from crisis centers, children from kindergartens) and wrote diaries based on these interviews.

They were advised to make a diary where they had to analyzed the interviews and then analyze the feelings that the interaction awoke in them. They were advised to reflect their feelings.

The university teacher read all these diaries, and analyzed them. All fifty diaries were analyzed by qualitative way.

Take-home Messages

It is possible to teach the medical students to  focus on the  meaning and understanding the primary health care viewpoint by using  learning diaries.

Acknowledgement
Summary of Results

Students’ diaries were analyzed and five following themes rose up from their visits: students ’opinions about patients, their perceptions and how it changes during visits, comments about the usefulness of the visits and reflections to themselves.

References

Boud, D., Keogh, R. & Walker, D. (eds.) 1985. Reflection. Turning experience into learning. London: Kogan Page.

Lindblom-Ylänne, S. & Lonka, K.(2000). The interaction between the learning environment and the development of expert learning. Lifelong Learning in Europe, 2/2000, 90-97.

Conclusion
Background
Summary of Work
Take-home Messages
Acknowledgement
Summary of Results

Positive feelings and especially negative feelings and emotions were reflected only in a few papers. These feelings can inhibit or enhance the possibilities for further reflection and learning. This is the focus we have to concentrate on in the future.

But as a hole, the students’ reflection diaries were very good. The diaries showed that the students are able to think about what they have seen systematically and then analyze surprisingly well patients from different backgrounds paying also attention to their age (children vs. old people ).

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References
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