title: Reflective writing in the internal medicine clerkship: a national survey of clerkship directors in internal medicine.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Reflective writing programs have been implemented at many medical schools, but it is unclear to what extent and how they are structured.
  
  
  METHODS
  We surveyed the 107 Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine member institutions on use of reflective writing assignments during the internal medicine clerkship.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Eighty-six of 107 (80%) institutional members completed the survey. Thirty-five percent reported having a reflective writing assignment, 48% did not, and 6% did not but were considering starting one within the next 2 years. Of the 30 assignments, most were partially structured (60%), involved small-group discussion (57%), and provided individual student feedback (73%). A minority (30%) contributed to the students' grade. Respondents believed assignments contributed to students' learning in multiple domains, most often Professionalism (97%) and Communication (77%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although reflective writing programs were common, variability existed in their structure. Further research is needed to determine how best to implement them.
authors.affiliation: Medical Service, VA Medical Center, Washington, DC, USA. Katherine.Chretien@va.gov
authors.forename: Katherine C
authors.initials: KC
authors.lastname: Chretien
authors.forename: Shobhina G
authors.initials: SG
authors.lastname: Chheda
authors.forename: Dario
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Torre
authors.forename: Klara K
authors.initials: KK
authors.lastname: Papp
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002983:Clinical Competence; D003625:Data Collection; D005246:Feedback; D005260:Female; D007722:Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000193:education*; D007858:Learning; D008297:Male; D015995:Prevalence; D016730:Program Development; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012577:Schools, Medical; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013337:Students, Medical / Q000523:psychology*; D013663:Teaching / Q000379:methods*; D014481:United States; D014956:Writing