INTRODUCTION
Adapting Gibbs’ Reflective Cycle for a structured reflection on my experience at Coventry University, I will provide insights on what was successful and what could be improved. Additionally, this reflection will illustrate the extent of the University’s contribution to my professional growth, particularly in leadership skills and knowledge. According to Adeani et al (2020) and Gibbs et al (2015), Gibb’s reflective cycle has 6 stages that help people reflect through different phases of an experience and these include: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and action plan.
Figure 1: Gibbs Reflective Cycle (Graham. Gibbs, 1988).
DESCRIPTION
For my journey in attaining a master’s degree in Global Healthcare Management (GHM), a one-year program I had chosen because I truly wanted to venture into healthcare leadership. The one year long program was broken into 3 semesters with each semester having unique course modules and expectations. In the first semester, courses included Developing You as a healthcare leader, Global Healthcare Challenges and Health Policy in organizations and systems. Also, Global healthcare management portfolio was introduced but this ran till the 3rd Semester.
In the second semester, courses included Strategic planning in Health organizations, leading in complex systems and Using Evidence and Evaluation in healthcare systems. Furthermore, in the third semester, Courses included Transforming healthcare business case project, Leading and creating organisational wellbeing, and then the Global healthcare management portfolio. The school provided us with resources such as orientation, library and support sessions. Each module leader would explain the coursework guidelines and expectations, timeline to aid success in the assessments. After submissions of assessments, reviews were received, and areas of strengths and weaknesses were noted. In the first semester, feedback emphasized critical analysis, but this improved in the next semesters.
FEELINGS
Initially, I was anxious and filled with uncertainties on how to manage with this new phase in my life. I was a bit panicky each time a new semester starts because of fear of what the modules would expect of me. However, as each semester progressed, I adjusted to the expectations and would give it my best attempt and my confidence grew alongside as well. Upon receipt of the grades, I have a strong sense of accomplishment and pride in my achievements.
EVALUATION
Most of the modules were very beneficial to my professional development, providing necessary knowledge and skills required for my career in healthcare management. I learnt the difference between being a leader and a manager. I also got to learn about leadership styles and how important blending them was. However, it was an intense period as so much information had to be processed within a short time hence time management was of the essence. It was quite difficult balancing school expectations, family and my own personal wellbeing. Hence, after my Continuous professional development on time management, I realized I had to prioritize putting my time management skill to work. On presentation skills, most of the modules encouraged me to be outspoken bearing my thoughts in words and nothing said was ever considered futile. This built my confidence to be more outspoken, taking up presentations, making me better at public speaking. Also, to improve my critical analysis skills, I attended a writing seminar organized by the faculty and this led to great improvement. Additionally, the module on strategic planning was exceptional as I had always wanted to know what project management was about and this module just made it easy to understand and apply the procedures step by step, and this also helped me in my dissertation module. However, I wish project management stood alone as a certification just as the CMI module 7052CRB. Overall, it was a fruitful journey.
ANALYSIS
Each module and encounter with module leaders had an aim and that was to shape both transferrable skills and knowledge. Looking back now, I will say that yes, new skills were learnt, and previous ones improved in my time here at Coventry University. Skills like public speaking/presentation, IT proficiency, time management, organisational capability and communication were all improved while research, leadership, emotional intelligence and applying management tools and methodological approaches to problem solving(Mumford et al, 2000). GHM Portfolio helped me apply my self-reflection skills and build on employability requirements such as continuous professional development (Beka & Kulinxha, 2021). These all opened my mind to understand the requirements of being a good healthcare leader and the required skills to pull through in a healthcare setting.
Personally, to excel, I had to work hard, leave my comfort zone and ensure I met all set deadlines, abiding by every rule put in place to the best of my ability. However, there was a course I didn’t quite understand what was required and I did not get the module leaders to explain what was really required of me and it affected my score. All of these built my experience while studying as an international student in Coventry University.
The whole process was very impactful on my development, personally and careerwise. To succeed in any life’s ambition, dedication and hard work are essential. These attributes helped me stay on the course regardless of the pressures of life and school. I have learnt from this experience that whatever you set up your mind to achieve can be attained, with necessary tools such as coaching, time management and personal dedication. If I were to do these again, there are things I would have done differently, for instance, I would engage with my tutors more to have deeper understanding of any module particularly the module I didn’t quite understand. This would help me do better grade-wise and networking-wise.
ACTION PLAN
In the first 3 months, I will engage with experts in healthcare management, volunteering where necessary to gain industry experience of 40%. I will maintain ties with the school and hope to be mentored by one of my module leaders to fortify knowledge and skills.
Also, I will join associations that have professionals who are outstanding in healthcare management, attend seminars and conferences to further build my skills in the next 6 months improving my networking skills by 30%.
Additionally, I will uphold the continuous professional development that 7143SOH exposed me to, hence I will commence a rigorous certification program in project management to be completed in the next 9 months to improve my project management skills by 60%. This will provide me with the pre-requisite for most project management roles and prepare me better to face challenges of leading in complex systems just as obtainable in healthcare settings.
Furthermore, I will keep self-reflecting and developing my self-management and awareness skills for personal growth and career advancement.
REFERENCES
Adeani, I. S., Febriani, R. B., & Syafryadin, S. (2020). Using Gibbs reflective cycle in making reflections of literary analysis. Indonesian EFL Journal, 6(2), 139. https://doi.org/10.25134/ieflj.v6i2.3382
Beka, A., & Kulinxha, G. (2021). Portfolio as a Tool for Self- Reflection and Professional Development for Pre-Service Teachers. International Journal of Learning, Teaching and Educational Research, 20, 22–35. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.2.2
Gibbs, Graham. (1988). Learning by doing: a guide to teaching and learning methods. FEU.
Gibbs, S., Anthony, P., & Charters, S. (2015). Reflection on Teaching IT for Non-computing Students. Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences, 186, 790–799. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2015.04.075
Mumford, M. D., Marks, M. A., Connelly, M. S., Zaccaro, S. J., & Reiter-Palmon, R. (2000). Development of leadership skills: experience and timing. Leadership quarterly, 11(1), 87–114.
