Lifelong Learning

Skills in lifelong learning have been identified by both the College of Family Physicians of Canada and the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada as requirements for competent practice. In a rapidly changing health care environment, physicians need to be information literate in order to keep up to date and to deliver best practice effectively and efficiently. The competent McMaster graduate should therefore:

• Recognize personal limits in knowledge and pursue the information necessary to understand and solve problems in a clinical setting
• Search for information in an effective and efficient manner
• Apply acquired knowledge effectively in the clinical setting
• Self assess and self correct
• Demonstrate an active commitment to the pursuit of knowledge
• Have started a plan for lifelong learning to maintain competency
• Display competence in basic clinical problem-solving and decision-making

Reflective Practice Model (RPM)

Reflection and Evaluation provide the framework for all the component parts of the model.

Reflection is the deliberate consideration of all the learning and experience you bring to the task and, very importantly, of what you take away from it. The outcome of the process will result in new perspectives on experience, a change in behaviour, or the commitment to action.

Evaluation is the assessment of your progress towards your objectives or to the problem’s solution. It will be both informal (self-evaluation and evaluation by your peers) and formal (use of tools specified for the task).

Problem and/or Patient is a description of a health care problem provided to you or an actual patient presenting to you. This step helps to identify your knowledge gap and drives the subsequent steps of the cycle. You will work to understand the simulated problem or to address the patient’s problem.

Definition of Questions in considering the entire problem you will identify what issues are relevant to your purpose and prepare questions that are clear, addressable and will illuminate decisions related to the problem and/or patient.

Information Seeking is the identification of appropriate sources and the information in them that you need to address your questions.

Validation and Integration are the processes in which you will assess, with help if necessary, the adequacy and accuracy of the information you have collected. You will then integrate this information with what you already know in order to answer your questions and/or to resolve the problem or patient situation.

Decision making can take place when you have determined that you have adequate information to permit subsequent action and that you have assessed the impact of the decision.

Action will be depend on the extent to which you believe that you understand the problem. It may include asking new questions, seeking new investigations or undertaking patient care, i.e. it is taken only after a thorough reconsideration of the original problem. This completes the cycle.

At any stage it may become apparent that some part of the cycle must be repeated because new insights were gathered that had not been considered before.

Preparation and Application show the relative emphasis expected; the dividing line is arbitrary. Preparation indicates emphasis on appropriate knowledge collection and activation of stores of prior knowledge; Application includes decisions and actions that may include patient care.