Reflective Approaches in Medical Imaging Education: An Initial Review

Abstract

This study reviewed literature regarding the utility and direction of reflective approaches in Medical imaging education. The Scopus database was accessed. The word “Reflective†was used as search term to look for the relevant literatures. The inclusive criteria used in this study comprised of published papers in journals, paper published in English, publications between the years 2006 – 2016, and papers discussing the topic of reflective approaches in medical education. The total numbers of papers that have one or more search term in the articles’ title only were tabulated. The data was filtered for used of other Reflective related terms. Thematic analysis was done to appreciate the results. 204 journals were identified to have one or more search terms in the articles’ titles only. Studying the search terms from the retrieved articles revealed that the term “Reflective Writing†contributed the highest frequency, followed by “Reflective Journal†and “Reflective Learningâ€. Generally, the articles on reflective approaches thematically suggest that most of the works concentrated in assessing their effectiveness in the domains of medical education. Fifteen studies evaluated students' reflective approaches for the evidence of professionalism. Meanwhile, fourteen studies found that the researchers utilised various types of reflective approaches in assessing and improving the domain of learning skill. Other studies noted the efficacy of different types of reflective approaches in the domains of critical thinking, attitude, ethics, teamwork, empathy, cognitive skill, social skill, competencies, clinical skill, palliative care and spiritual care. Pertinent to Medical imaging area, only one study has been reported in promoting the appropriate reflective learning in the curriculum. The dearth of articles that address reflective approaches in relation to Medical imaging education indicates much work is required to understand how reflective approaches can be used to effectively assess the students’ performance pertaining to the various domains in Medical imaging.