Introduction Reflection on one's own actions is undoubtedly one of the most important lessons required throughout a career in medicine or pharmacology, due to the series of dilemmas and decisions that health professionals must face when providing care to patients or communities, teaching other professionals, or conducting biomedical research. Given the complexity of the challenge, there is surprisingly little literature on effective pedagogical strategies that enhance ongoing reflection in medical students. This self‐reflection is particularly important in the current moment where in the wake of the COVID‐19 pandemic and the social distancing it has brought, young students have seen reduced opportunities to interact with and learn from others. The practice of journaling is an effective strategy for prioritizing tasks, managing stress, reducing anxiety, and increasing productivity. The objective of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of journaling as an element that promotes better study habits and mental health in students of a medical pharmacology course. Methods Since the second semester of 2020, the pharmacology course (second year of the medical career) has included weekly journaling as part of the course activities. Each week students must choose and reflexively answer 4‐5 questions from a list of 35 items in different domains (emotional and health perception, goals and commitments, study method and habits, learning perception and teamwork). The exercise was graded according to the level of fulfillment of the task (number of items answered in a reflective and timely manner), without criticizing the content of the students' answers. At the end of the semester the students answered a short survey that evaluated their perception of the usefulness of the tool, through Likert‐type questions. Results Most of the students reported that keeping a journal was useful to improve their physical and mental health (57%), organize their homework and assignments (69%), achieve their goals (85%), reflect on their role as a person (77%) or student (88%). In addition, students also agreed that the journal was helpful in increasing their confidence (51%), developing creativity (54%), and strengthening their communication skills (54%). The students' favorite domain for personal reflections was “physical and mental health care”, with 66% of responses. More than 80% of students considered that writing about their goals and commitments, and about their study method and assignments, helped them to better organize their time. Moreover, 83% of students stated that they would like to continue with the habit of keeping a journal to organize their academic activities. Conclusions Students positively valued the journals as a planning tool in their academic tasks. Importantly, students also positively evaluated the value of journaling as a useful tool for maintaining better physical and mental health. This is an important achievement given the emotional stress, anxiety and burn out that many medical students deal with, especially in t...

Introduction Reflection on ethical behavior is undoubtedly one of the most important competencies required throughout a medical career, due to the series of dilemmas and difficult decisions that health professionals have to make when providing care to patients or communities, teaching other professionals, or conducting biomedical research. Given the complexity of the challenge, it is surprising that there is little literature about effective pedagogical strategies that enhance ethical reflection in medical students. The aim of this study is to evaluate new strategies for promoting ethical thinking and reflection, in a medical pharmacology course, using technologies that can be easily implemented in other courses and programs. Methods To promote ethical reflection, we developed a role‐playing game that was initially conducted face‐to‐face, but was quickly adapted to a digital environment, due to the changes in classroom interaction brought about by the COVID‐19 pandemic. The academic exercise was conducted in several steps: 1) The course was divided into groups that were assigned an ethical dilemma or controversial situation in pharmacology. Examples of ethical dilemmas are equal access to expensive therapies, health disasters caused by drugs or toxic substances, research in humans without review by ethics committees, academic fraud in clinical or basic research studies. 2) Each group had to generate a 10‐minute newscast, in which they presented the dilemma in the form of a report, showing the point of view of the various actors involved (through the performance of the group members). 3) The newscast was shared through social networks with classmates, who reviewed the material asynchronously. 4) each expository group prepared an integration activity using, in a free way, digital tools (virtual boards, surveys and interactive quizzes, electronic forums, museum applications displayed on the Internet, etc) to seek to generate a deeper discussion about the assigned topic, in the classmates of the course. 5) the course mates and the teacher evaluated the quality of the elements of the activity by means of the mentimeter 6) at the end of the semester, an electronic survey with Likert‐type questions was applied to evaluate the students' perception of the effectiveness of the activity and their learning in 24 ethical competencies relevant to the course. Results During the two years of the innovation, the majority of students reported that the feedback provided by the professor (96%), group discussions (89%), role‐playing (79%), and opportunities for personal reflection (71%) were the activities that contributed most to their learning of ethics in pharmacology. Most students (96%) reported that the activities were helpful to them in achieving the competencies of ethical reasoning and reflection. Assessment of each competency, described in table 1, demonstrated gains in all domains. Conclusions The use of interaction and discussion tools, individually or in teams, in the framework of a role‐playing strategy, is an effective...