Results
A thematic analysis of comments revealed that overall, students were positive about their experience, noting that it was “valuable” and “helpful” in preparing them for clinical rotations. Some student commented on how they felt during the process of videorecording. Four of 76 students who commented on the video assignment stated that they were initially nervous or felt awkward begin videorecorded; however, they still acknowledged it as a positive learning opportunity. Only two students stated that the assignment had little educational value. Following qualitative analysis, five overarching themes arose from student feedback: (a) impact of seeing oneself, (b) significance of practicing, (c) opportunity for self-evaluation, (d) value of getting below the surface, and (e) power of transforming insight to goal setting.
Impact of Seeing Oneself
Several students observed that watching how they look and sound to others was a unique and helpful experience. One student staed, “It is good to see how I communicate because we rare watch ourselves interact with others.” Some students noted that observing themselves increased their self awareness and insight. Representative of this perspective was the comment, “It was helpful to see myself interacting with the patient on the videorecording so I could observe my mannerisms and see the things I say or do that aren’t actually helpful when talking with patients.” Another student remarked, “I thought it was a good experience to be able to see myself conducting an interview. It was really interesting to see my self from a different perspective.”