Fostering 2(nd)-year medical students’ reflective capacity: A biopsychosocial model course

OBJECTIVE: The biopsychosocial (BPS) model has been proposed to take into account the interaction of psychological and social factors in medical practice. Although some studies have explored its application in medical education, little has been evaluated about students’ reflection in such courses. This study introduced a BPS model course and aimed to assess changes in students’ reflective capacity resulting from this course. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-seven written reflections before and after the course were segmented, coded, and rated using the Reflection Evaluation for Learners’ Enhanced Competencies Tool rubric, which contains six factors of reflective capacity, namely description of disease experience, presence, attending to emotions, description of conflict or disorienting dilemma, meaning making, and action. RESULTS: After the BPS model course, the overall reflective capacity, as well as the “Presence” and “Meaning making” scores, increased, while scores for “Attending to emotion” decreased significantly. “Description of disease experience,” “Description of conflict or disorienting dilemma,” and “Action” showed no significant change. CONCLUSION: Pedagogical suggestions are discussed for a BPS model course with reflective training for young medical students.