Reflection

The general dental practice (GDC) enhanced continuing professional development (CPD) scheme makes clear that reflection is a key aspect for all registrants to think about the outcomes of their CPD activity. Reflection is an individual process and it is up to you how you do it but you must ensure you do it. The links and resources on this page are intended to provide you with help and guidance to become an effective reflector. This will in turn enhance your performance as a health professional delivering care to patients as you continually seek to improve your practice. How effective you are as a reflector depends on how proactively and willingly you engage in it to make it meaningful.

The GDC sets expectations on reflection in the guidance it  provides on Enhanced CPD – and gives examples of how this might work.

The GDC has issued a joint statement on the benefits of becoming a reflective practitioner which sets out common expectations for health and care professionals to be reflective practitioners and engage meaningfully in reflection.

Another useful tool which might help you to consider how best you learn and ways that you can develop skills to enhance your learning is to carry out a Learning Styles tool such as Honey and Mumford’s – an example is provided here.

There are online versions of this tool that you might find equally useful.

The GDC provided a useful blog on reflection.

Katherine Mills, Dental Educator HEIW delivered a webinar on reflection you can watch a recording of this here: https://samba.live/play/wd/33825-kath-mills-reflection