Reflection: What? → So what? → Now what? · MedInterview Prep

Reflection: What? → So what? → Now what?

A simple three-question reflective model (associated with Rolfe and colleagues) that turns an experience into learning. Describe briefly what happened, analyse why it mattered, and say what you will do differently. Medical schools value it because reflection is a lifelong professional requirement.

Reflection

When to use it

Work experience, volunteering, observed events and 'what did you learn?' questions. Faster than Gibbs and ideal for a two-minute answer.

The steps

1
What?
What happened, briefly and specifically. What did you see, hear or do? Keep patient details anonymous.
2
So what?
Why did it matter? What did it show you about patients, doctors, teams or yourself? Link to values (dignity, communication, teamwork) and, if relevant, to the realities of healthcare.
3
Now what?
What will you do differently or carry forward? How will it shape how you practise, study or behave? Make it concrete.

Worked example

What: 'In a care home, I saw a carer take ten minutes to help a resident with dementia choose her own clothes, even though it would have been faster to choose for her.' So what: 'It showed me that dignity is protected in small choices, and that efficiency and good care can pull in different directions.' Now what: 'When I'm under time pressure, I want to keep asking which small decisions I can leave with the patient — and I've started doing that in my volunteering.'

Try it yourself: Tell me about your work experience. What did you learn from it?

Common mistakes

Spending the whole answer on 'What?' — describing, not reflecting.
Generic lessons ('communication is important') with no specific link to what you saw.
Breaching confidentiality with identifiable details.
Claiming clinical insight beyond what a student could observe.

When to use it

The steps

What?

So what?

Now what?

Worked example

Common mistakes

Questions that use this framework