Keeping a Reflection Journal for Team Learning in Medicine

Group work can produce a finished presentation without giving every participant a clear picture of what they learned. A short reflection journal helps you look beyond the final product. It records how you prepared, how the discussion developed and what you would change in your next contribution.

Leadership development is one part of the Leaders in Health Innovations programme at Sechenov University. The programme also describes small-group learning and communication skills. Applicants from South Korea can explore the meaning of those features by considering how they would reflect on a learning task. The journal described here is a personal study suggestion, not an official university form.

Record events before interpreting them

Start with a factual description of the task and your own role. Write what you did, what information you brought and which part of the discussion changed your understanding. Avoid descriptions such as “the group was bad at communicating” unless you can explain the event behind that judgement. “We began writing before agreeing on the question” is a more useful observation.

Keep the record proportionate and respectful. A personal learning note does not need other people’s private details, and it should not become a record of sensitive patient information. Focus on your actions and the educational problem. If a task raises questions about confidentiality or appropriate documentation, seek guidance from the responsible teacher.

Examine one decision in detail

Choose a moment when the group had to make a choice. Perhaps you divided the work, selected an example or decided which explanation belonged in the final presentation. What information did you use? Which alternatives were considered? Did you understand why the group preferred one option?

This approach connects reflection with reasoning. It lets you recognise a useful contribution even if you were not the person speaking most often. Asking a clarifying question or noticing an unsupported claim can improve the group’s work. The programme page explains the broader place of leadership and individual development in the course.

Separate your feelings from your conclusions

Feeling nervous during a discussion does not automatically mean that you contributed little. Feeling confident does not establish that an explanation was correct. Write down your reaction, then look for evidence about what actually happened. Did another person build on your question? Was a point corrected? Did you understand the final argument?

If you ask a peer for feedback, make the request specific. You might ask whether your explanation made the group’s next step clearer. Listen for an example rather than seeking a general judgement about your personality. A reflection journal should help you develop a behaviour you can practise, rather than attach a permanent label to yourself.

Choose an achievable change

Finish the entry with one action for the next task. That could be preparing a short outline, checking the source of a statement or summarising the decision before moving on. Later, return to the note and consider whether the action helped. A small change that you can evaluate is more useful than a promise to become a completely different student.

Before applying, use the admissions section for procedural information and the contact page to ask how group learning and curator support are organised. To learn more about the programme, visit https://healthleaders.sechenov.ru/ or email healthleaders@staff.sechenov.ru.