Conscious seeing: A description of a reflective framework used with final-year Swedish physiotherapy students in the context of international clinical placements

Abstract

This paper describes a reflective framework that aims to support physiotherapy students participating in new cultural contexts to develop their personal and professional learning, and their reflective skills. The framework was used by eight Swedish physiotherapy students who did international clinical placements in Thailand and Mexico. This was done as part of their bachelor's thesis projects. The data generated from the reflective process was analysed by the students using Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis. The outcome demonstrated that this structured approach to reflection facilitated the students’ reflective processes and led to perceived personal and professional insight, increased cultural appreciation and a greater appreciation for reflection. This framework can be a useful tool to support students’ reflection processes in new cultural contexts. It is presented for further testing and development, such as in intercultural contexts in the home country, and by physiotherapy teachers and clinical supervisors.

Key words::

• Clinical education
• culture
• learning
• structured reflection

Acknowledgements

Thank you Marie Donaghy and Ian Edwards for feedback on the reflective framework, and Marie, thank you also for your encouragement and interest in our project. Thank you Maja Söderbäck and Anna Svensson, for feedback on the final draft of the manuscript. And especially, a sincere thank you to Mikael Olsén, Lisa Wikström, Jenny Högberg, Jennie Lundberg, Linn Tillenius, Josefin Höglund, Alexander Alm, Jessica Eriksson and Johan Moberg for all your hard work with the reflective framework, and for sharing your experiences in the outcomes section of this paper.

Declaration of interest: The author reports no conflict of interests.