Enhancing Reflective Writing through E-Learning in Undergraduate Medical Education

Introduction: Reflective learning is an important tool in the practice of medicine and are central to medical education and a career in medicine. Reflective writing was introduced in family medicine rotation in undergraduate medical students and e-learning was used to enhance its effectiveness.
Objectives: To evaluate the usefulness and effectiveness of e-learning to enhance reflective learning via reflective writing to increase the performance of medical students undergoing family medicine rotation in Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin.
Methods: Students were given guidance for reflective learning and had to produce 4 writings throughout the 6 weeks of health clinic attachment starting from Semester 1 2016/17. Initially done manually by the first 2 groups of students, the reflective writing guidance, submission and feedback were done via E-learning starting from Semester 2 (another 2 groups). The mean marks of the groups (used and did not use E-learning for Reflective Writing) were calculated and the significance derived via t-test. An objective and subjective feedback on the usefulness of the utilization of E-learning in enhancing the reflective learning was also done.
Results: Mean marks for reflective writing increased from 6.37 (0.72) to 6.94 (0.60) [mean(SD)], p=0.031. All students found the reflective writing to enhance their learning, and prefer it compared to conventional case write-ups. Students who used E-learning prefer it compared to manual submission. The students especially appreciate the feedback from the supervisors submitted online to improve their reflective learning experience.
Conclusion: Reflective Writing can be enhanced using e-learning as a medical education strategy for undergraduate medical program (MBBS) and it is deemed useful and effective.