Reflective final year dentistry journal assessment during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic has presented challenges for dental education globally, but in response to the Australian Government and ACODS’s imperative to support rather than stigmatise dental students’ progression towards graduation and build early-career dental workforce capabilities, the authors of this investigation, as joint leaders of the final year BDSc program at Charles Sturt University (CSU), have introduced a suite of reflective practice initiatives and assessments.
An overall evaluation of these initiatives over the COVID-impacted years (2020-2022), will include graduate surveys of the value of reflective-practice training in early-career practice, and graduates’ perceived commitment to lifelong continuing professional development (CPD). This pilot investigation reports on the introduction of the initiatives, their integration into the final year BDSc program at CSU, and preliminary data of the correlation of a reflective practice task with overall performance in graduating cohorts (2020 and 2021).
All assessments in DOH484 (Dental Clinical Practice 5), including the Clinical Logbook, the On-line Engagement Log, Continuous Clinical Assessment, the Clinical Case Presentation and Defence and the Final Written Exam, contain reflective practice components, but only the Reflective Journal ensures students reflect upon and integrate their learning in a dedicated assessment task.
In this assessment students: (i) reflect on their on-line engagement studying in the ever-changing world occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic; and (ii) critically reflect on their learning, with examples of critical thinking and evaluation of the relevant scientific literature. The assessment rubric has been modified from the 'analytical' rubrics in the University of Edinburgh's Reflection Toolkit, and the grading focus is on the development of reflective practice from the 'novice' to a 'reflective practitioner'.
Preliminary data provide proof of concept that reflective journals support final year students’ learning in healthcare professional training. The assessment correlates with overall academic performance, work readiness for practice and a commitment to lifelong CPD.