Professional Competencies ToolKit: Using Flash Cards to Teach Reflective Practice to Medical Students in Clinical Clerkship

INTRODUCTION: Early clinical experiences can be overwhelming to medical students. The Professional Competencies ToolKit (ProComp ToolKit) gives medical students a framework on which to build these early experiences and reflect on issues related to professionalism as each patient encounter unfolds. METHODS: The ProComp ToolKit is a set of 28 flash cards, grouped within six domains of professional competency. Each flash card is a tool for learning, defining a topic in a catchy title and laying out a specific set of skills to be acquired within the clinical setting. Tasks and tips on each flash card guide students through the process of clinical observation, self-observation, and patient interactions. Students meet in small groups with facilitators every 2 weeks throughout the year to discuss these experiences. At the end of the year, students write a narrative based on the flash card that was most meaningful to their professional identity development. RESULTS: We demonstrated how the student narratives that emerged from using the flash cards, exchanged in a small-group setting, led to group problem solving and validation of students' experiences and values. In the narratives, students discussed the origin of negative behaviors and attitudes that can become normalized in patient care while asserting the primacy of patient-centered care and devising self-awareness strategies. DISCUSSION: Our experience using the ProComp ToolKit shows that teaching reflective practice can successfully be integrated into students' clinical experiences. Professionalism skills can be reflected upon such that they become habitual and integral to students' developing professional identities.