How Do Veterinary Students Engage When Using Creative Methods to Critically Reflect on Experience? A Qualitative Analysis of Assessed Reflective Work.

Critical reflection-the exploration and questioning of one's experience, beliefs, assumptions, and actions-supports resilience, empathy, the management of uncertainty, and professional identity formation. Yet for many students and educators, the techniques to engage in critical reflection are elusive. Creative methods that foster engagement with emotional and uncertain aspects of experience reportedly help some students to reflect at a more critical level than when they use reflective writing, and this study explores more deeply the experiences of such students, who used creative methods to critically reflect on challenging or troubling past events.

How do veterinary students engage when reflecting on their development towards being veterinary surgeons?

Background: Reflection has been widely acknowledged to contribute to professional development, the ability to manage tension and enhanced resilience. However, many practitioners struggle to reflect productively due to a lack of clarity of what constitutes effective reflection.

Methods: To help develop reflective competence among future professionals, 30 veterinary students' reflective assignments were analysed by thematic text analysis.