A Comprehensive Reflective Journal-Writing Framework for Pharmacy Students to Increase Self-Awareness and Develop Actionable Goals

Abstract

Objective. To develop and evaluate the effectiveness of a structured model for reflective journal writing (RJW) and a grading rubric as part of a student portfolio designed to help Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) students create actionable goals. Methods. A structured, eight-domain format was developed to engage students in prioritization, identification, exploration, recollection, evaluation, and challenging/solidifying their own knowledge, while assembling an action plan for development (abbreviated using the acronym PIE-RECAP). After completing RJW using this model, students self-identified domains established by the Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Education (CAPE) that corresponded to their entries. A grading rubric was designed and normalized to require minimal training for use. RJW and other elements of student portfolios were implemented simultaneously across three cohorts (N5296). Twenty-one faculty and staff graders each evaluated 10 to 15 student journal entries. Results. Of 771 journal entries, 648 (84%) met expectations, while 123 (16%) needed to be rewritten. Students identified experiences that were meaningful to them and shared in their RJW entry the knowledge and/or information that they did not know prior to the experience. Common themes identified in the students' RJWs included: curricular experiences (12.7%), cocurricular experiences (18.4%), and experiential training (68.6%). Conclusion.The PIE-RECAP method can be used to guide students in RJW and identify CAPE domains in their personal and professional experiences in pharmacy school. The associated grading rubric can be used to evaluate students' RJW entries and assess their growth in curricular, cocurricular and affective domains relative to their progression.

Reflective Practice: Co-Creating Reflective Activities for Pharmacy Students

“…A multi-faceted approach to analysis was undertaken. It began with the student (KH) becoming familiar with reflective practice and educational outcomes for the program [30], reviewing selected literature on reflective practice and related instructional approaches in pharmacy and health sciences programs [13,16,19,20,25,[39][40][41][42], reviewing reflective practice assignments in PharmD course syllabi, discussing with the supervisor (TJS), and ruminating on personal experiences with reflective practice. As part of this phase, the first author (KH) documented an initial reflection:…”

Experiential Education in Pharmacy Curriculum: The Lebanese International University Model

“…This strategy allows us to assess competencies in a planned and structured way [ 48 ]. On the other hand, and at the end of the PPE III and IV courses, each student will reflect on his/her culminating practical experiences by writing an essay and filling a site evaluation rubric, as well as his/her ability to assess self-awareness and personal development [ 49 , 50 ]. Examples of students’ reflective writings are presented in Table 1 .…”

A structured self‐reflection approach to improve reflection quality and assessment of advanced pharmacy practice experience professionalization

“…This study revealed professionalization themes of development of practice skills, ability to teach others, service to the underserved, and career development. 15 Of note, Hughes and colleagues developed a seven-step structured approach to critical self-reflection for experiential, co-curricular and curricular components of their program, which planted the seed for this study adaptation to a similar but more streamlined approach suited to APPEs.…”

“…7 The aim of this article is to describe experience with the new APPE structured selfreflection process improvement and (a) determine the most impactful professionalization themes derived from student self-categorization for each APPE; and (b) analyze self-reflections for inclusion of actionable professional development plans. practices for critical self-reflection from the literature; 7,11 (c) professionalization themes of impact derived from the literature; [13][14][15] and (d) an adaptation of a 7-step reflection process from Hughes and colleagues, which had been developed to more broadly assess curricular (including APPEs) and co-curricular elements. 15 The components of the IDEA structured reflection and categorizations of themes of professionalization impact are further characterized in…”