Clinical Rotation and Reflection

Clinical Rotation and Critical Reflection Exercise

Students will have a clinical experience in an interdisciplinary palliative care setting. They will write a reflective paper on their observations. Students will share their reflective writings in small, faculty-facilitated groups.

Critical Reflection Guidelines and Templates (PDF)
Critical Reflection Facilitator Guide (PDF)

There are three components to the clinical rotation and critical reflection exercise as follows:


Clinical Rotation

Every iCOPE learner completes a clinical experience. Sites and length of the experience vary among learners based on their discipline and schedule. Senior medical students complete a one week rotation in palliative care under the direction of a specialist palliative care physician. Chaplaincy residents work with a palliative care consult team for one week during their residency. Nursing students do one-day observational rotations with a specialist palliative care nurse at various palliative care sites. Social work students are exposed to palliative care patients either during their field practicum or an observational experience.

A variety of community partners participate in the iCOPE curriculum offering their site and experienced personnel as resources. Venues for clinical experiences include: specialist palliative consultation teams (adult and pediatric), hospice homecare, hospice inpatient unit, and palliative care units located within a hospital setting.

Students are instructed to focus on the interdisciplinary care and teamwork observed during their clinical experience as they subsequently write a structured reflection addressing the care provided to one patient observed.

Educators choosing to use this portion of the curriculum will need to secure sites and contacts for learners.


Critical Reflection Paper

Students will critically reflect on a case observed at that site. The exercise focuses on the interdisciplinary nature of palliative care. See link to Template and Guidelines above.


Critical Reflection Session

Interdisciplinary Sharing of Reflections (See link to Critical Reflection Facilitator Guide above.)

Students of the various disciplines meet together in groups of 6-8 with a faculty facilitator to share their reflections and discuss their clinical experiences. During this session, students become aware of the variety of venues in which palliative care is practiced. They share their patient experiences and observations related to the care provided.

Prior to this session, the faculty facilitator reads each of the student’s reflections and responds in writing. The student receives this written feedback which is used to encourage further insights and critical thinking related to their clinical experience.

The Critical Reflection Session is usually scheduled by the instructor on the same day as ICME.

Alternative for clinical rotation: View one of the following videos and then write your critical reflection paper. Vidoes: Wit, Two Weeks, My Life Without ME, 50/50, Letting Go (documentary)