Fiction talk as a reflective practice: Medical students discussing possible learning outcomes from fiction seminars

Abstract

In medical education, reflection is widely considered to be an important skill for physicians, and thus an important skill for medical students to learn. There is however no consensus on how reflection should be taught, and empirical research on in-situ reflective practices in medical education is fairly uncommon. This paper uses discursive psychology (DP) as theoretical and methodological framework to uncover how reflection is interactionally achieved in fiction seminars, which are used in medical education as a means to teach professional skills such as reflection and emotional awareness. In the data set of 58 h of video- and audio recordings from fiction seminars in two medical schools, 24 examples were found where students reflect on the possible learning outcomes of discussing fiction. Analysis shows that reflective practices are imbedded in fiction seminars, and that reflection is collectively achieved by students listening to each other, building on each other's reflections and challenging each other's viewpoints. These practices allow students to construct both resistance and learning while still adhering to the aims of the seminars of ‘doing reflection’.