Title: The Development of Reflective Thinking and its Influence on Patient Care Skills in Third Year Dental Students
Description: This study examined if dental students could increase their level of reflective skills over time through composing reflective blogs during their introduction to patient care in their course, Clinical Practice of Dentistry I, and to document and analyze student perceptions of the use of reflective blogs, particularly pertaining to the clinical and metacognitive skills. The participants of this study included 69 third-year dental students. Reflective blogs were analyzed using a reflective rubric adapted from Wetmore, Boyd, Bowen & Patillio, 2010. Student perceptions regarding the use of reflective blogs were documented through a 14-question Likert-opinion survey and focus group interviews. Findings indicated reflective thought level increased significantly in all six reflective thought categories across the three assessed blogs. Overall, student perceptions of the use of reflective blogs were positive as based on a five-point Likert scale survey. They reported particularly high percentages for "I feel comfortable about reflecting on my clinical experiences" at ~ 90% Agree, "Reflective journals allow me to focus and think things over" at ~ 83% Agree, followed by "Reflective journals develop my ability to monitor and reflect on my own thinking processes"~ 74%.

Both the qualitative and quantitative results of this study provide favorable evidence that reflective journaling is effective and in large measure is appreciated by students in their clinical phase of dental medical education.