Reflective practice in an osteopathic student clinic: a pilot study

A variety of healthcare professions have debated methods of implementing reflective practice in academic curricula. Reflective practice serves as a means of accessing cognitive and behavioural patterns of clinical skills that competent professionals use in their daily lives. The Osteopathic profession has yet to engage with this concept. This study was conducted in an osteopathic clinical setting and used a qualitative research method of ethnography and semi-structured interviews to investigate memorable clinical experiences. The analysis of the study described the role that reflection can play in the process of developing osteopathic students and clinicians, in the osteopathic clinic at Victoria University. An understanding of common issues and concerns of clinicians and students were explored. The actual interview process itself proved to be an effective tool for reflection as participants reported an increase in self awareness as a result of participating in the interviews. This minor thesis was written by a post-graduate student as part of the requirements of the Master of Health Science (Osteopathy) program