Clinician Self-Reflection Prompts

Because how we show up shapes what patients take in.

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🔹 Purpose: To give clinicians a moment to pause, reflect, and refine how they communicate, empathize, and lead in pain care. These prompts invite curiosity—not judgment—into your own clinical habits and language.

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🔹 Why This Matters: We teach patients to reflect, adapt, and learn—but we rarely give ourselves the same space. These questions can reveal patterns, biases, or habits that might unconsciously shape how we deliver care.

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🧭 How to Use:

✍️ Post-session solo journaling

✍️ Peer mentorship conversations

✍️ End-of-week reflections

✍️ During professional development or team meetings

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🔍 Reflection Prompts:

🗣️ Language & Framing

▫️ Did I unintentionally use fear-based language today?

▫️ What’s one phrase I said that I’d like to reword next time?

▫️ When I explained pain, did it sound like a script or a story?

▫️ Did I offer hope without giving false reassurance?

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🧠 Presence & Curiosity

▫️ Was I truly listening, or was I thinking ahead to the next task?

▫️ Where did I feel most connected to a patient today?

▫️ What moment made me curious instead of confident?

▫️ Did I pause long enough to let their story unfold?

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🎯 Clinical Decision-Making

▫️ Did I treat what the person needed—or just what the script said?

▫️ Where did I follow a protocol that could’ve been more flexible?

▫️ Did my plan today build trust, or just compliance?

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💬 Education Delivery

▫️ Did my explanation land? How do I know?

▫️ What metaphor or image really clicked today?

▫️ Where did I miss an opportunity to reframe pain?

▫️ Did I leave space for questions—or just fill it with facts?

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🧭 Professional Identity

▫️ Am I showing up as the clinician I want to be—or just the one I’ve trained to be?

▫️ What’s one small shift I want to make next week?

▫️ What’s something I learned from a patient this week?

▫️ Where did I grow in comfort with uncertainty?

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🌀 Closing Prompt (Optional Weekly Check-In):

“What kind of clinician am I becoming—and is that aligned with who I want to be?”

This resource is part of The Wondering Clinician Toolkit. It’s not medical advice—just a tool to support learning, reflection, and healing. Always consult your clinician when needed.