Reflecting on the use of communities of practice for undergraduate paramedic students

Reflective practice is a key skill for health professionals to engage in continuous learning and improvement in skills, knowledge and practice. Various models for health professionals and reflective practice exist for example Gibbs, Kolb, Driscoll (Barton) and Rolfe et al (2001). As a requirement for AHPRA (Australia) or HCPC (UK) health professional registration, paramedics must engage in reflection of any continuing education that they undertake. Contributing to the body of knowledge, this project adds to O’Connor and O’Hara (2018) have found that paramedics consider themselves as reflective practitioners however often this practice is not undertaken in a structured manner. Yet, as part of their research, they found that structured reflective forums useful in supporting and engaging this practice. The novelty of this project is to investigate that the introduction of a reflective forum which is a ‘Community of Practice’ (Wenger, 2011) through the sharing of learning, knowledge and practice intended to engage undergraduate students in reflective activities.