Differences in Self-expression Reflect Formal Evaluation in a Fourth-year Emergency Medicine Clerkship

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Emergency Medicine
• Reflective Practice

Background:

• Medical schools increasingly use self-reflection to enhance student learning and performance.
• The utility of reflection as an educational tool in emergency medicine (EM) requires further investigation.
• This study examines the link between reflection and EM clerkship outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the relationship between the degree of student self-reflection and their performance in an EM clerkship.
• To identify linguistic markers of reflection and their correlation with academic achievement.

Main Methods:

• A retrospective case series analyzed 116 medical students' performance and reflective statements during an EM clerkship.
• Student evaluations used the RIME (Reporter-Interpreter-Manager-Educator) scheme.
• Software analyzed reflective comments for content words to determine the correlation with final clerkship grades.

Main Results:

• A significant positive correlation (0.32) was found between final grade and the frequency of completed self-reflections (p=0.03).
• The average word count per reflection did not significantly correlate with final grades (0.21, p=0.16).
• Students reflecting on over half their shifts had higher median grades than those reflecting less frequently (p=0.05).

Conclusions:

• Higher frequency of self-reflection is associated with better academic performance in EM clerkships.
• The quantity of words in reflections does not predict clerkship grades.
• Common reflective themes centered on patient management and learning.