Reflection as a Learning Tool in Postgraduate Medical Education

Area of Science:

• Medical Education
• Pediatrics
• Professional Development

Background:

• Reflection is a crucial component of professional development in medical education.
• Understanding the reflective capacity of pediatric residents is essential for optimizing learning strategies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the reflective capacity of pediatric residents as a learning tool.
• To assess if reflective capacity varies by specialty, gender, or training year.

Main Methods:

• A cross-sectional online survey was conducted with 175 pediatric postgraduate residents and registrars at The Children's Hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.
• The Reflective Practices Questionnaire (RPQ) was used to measure reflective practices, with data analyzed using SPSS-24.

Main Results:

• The overall mean reflective capacity score was 69.97 ± 10.79 out of 96.
• Critical appraisal of interaction was the highest-scoring domain (18.52 ± 3.16 out of 24).
• No significant differences in mean scores were found based on gender, specialty, or year of training (p > 0.05).

Conclusions:

• Pediatric postgraduate residents exhibit good overall reflective capacity.
• Reflective capacity is consistent across different specialties, genders, and training years.
• Critical appraisal is the most developed aspect of reflection among these residents.