Medical students’ self-regulated learning in clinical contexts

Doctors are expected to be lifelong learners. This means that they should be able to identify their own weaknesses, have effective strategies to improve, and to reflect on this process. The competencies necessary for lifelong learning, are refined through engaging in self-regulated learning. Self-regulated learning has proven to be very effective for learning in classroom settings and vocational contexts. In this thesis, Joris Berkhout has investigated the effect clinical contexts have on self-regulated learning. The results of the studies presented in this thesis indicate that self-regulated learning in a clinical context is a complex, dynamic process influenced by personal, social, and contextual attributes, in an intertwined fashion. Clinical departments can support students’ self-regulated learning through enabling the development of professional relationships between students and faculty, and through giving students a feeling of legitimacy. Other people in clinical contexts should also foster students’ self-regulated learning as they also have a large influence, especially in students new to a certain context. The influence both person and context have on self-regulated learning results in five different patterns in students self-reported self-regulated learning behavior in clinical contexts, which are likely to result in different learning outcomes. This thesis advocates a stronger focus on identity development in undergraduate medical education, because it will likely support student engagement in self-regulated learning in clinical contexts. It is also evident clerkships should facilitate longer lasting collaborations between students and staff, and should cater for students’ individual needs better.