Reflective practice is a crucial aspect of professional development in healthcare, allowing practitioners to critically analyze their experiences, identify areas for improvement, and enhance patient care. The Gibbs Reflective Cycle (1988) provides a structured framework for reflection, consisting of six stages: Description, Feelings, Evaluation, Analysis, Conclusion, and Action Plan. This essay reflects on my experience observing a chiropractor diagnose a patient with Eagle Syndrome, a rare condition characterized by an elongated styloid process causing neck, jaw, and head pain. Through this reflection, I aim to explore my learning, emotional responses, strengths, weaknesses, and future strategies for professional growth.
Gibbs Reflection Cycle
Description
I had an enlightening experience when the patient suffering from Eagle Syndrome contacted the chiropractor. The chiropractor assessed the patient and diagnosed that the reason behind the pain in the neck and the jaw has been caused due to the Eagle syndrome. I was able to know from the experience that the chiropractor plays a key role in addressing the uncommon disease in the spinal cord. I also learnt the various forms of techniques that are available for addressing the adverse effects of neck injury and the types of diagnostic tests that are available for differentiating Eagle Syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). I was able to identify that the knowledge in these disorders are necessary for driving the quality of the care to the patients and improve their physical well-being. The experience also helped in understanding the fact that the presence of a proper treatment plan is necessary and the elongation of the styloid is the factor that causes the Eagle Syndrome.
The chiropractor’s role in diagnosing rare spinal and musculoskeletal disorders.
Diagnostic techniques (e.g., 3D imaging, palpation) differentiating Eagle Syndrome from TMD.
The importance of a structured treatment plan, as conservative management (e.g., manual therapy) or surgical intervention may be required.
Feelings
While I was observing MR X, I was very surprised by the fact that the patient did not account for much pain on the left side of the jaw as compared to the headaches. This is because I thought, since the styloid elongation in the jaw would have more adverse effect on the jaw as compared to the temple of the skull, however, to my surprise, I came to know that the elongation also asserts pressure on the nerve endings and is responsible for severe headaches. Similar evidence can be observed in the works of Diab et al. (2020) as the authors suggest that the onset of Eagle Syndrome shares a positive association with the higher incidence rate of severe headaches. The prevalence of expressing emotions such as feeling of being surprised during the experience is characterised by the feeling stage of the Gibbs reflective cycle as it characterises the importance of understanding the emotions that developed during the experience (Li et al., 2020).
I came to understand how 3D Imaging works when it comes to diagnosing the effect of Eagle Syndrome. This is one of the major strengths of the experience as earlier, I had limited understanding of how to build a 3D reconstruction of the spinal cord and this experience helped me in gaining an effective insight about the contribution of the technology in the chiropractic domain. Even though I was able to have a basic understanding about the condition that differentiates the Eagle Syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) from the experience. However, I lack extensive information about the spine structure irregularities that separates the Eagle Syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). This has been one of the major weaknesses of the experience since initially I thought that the patient was suffering from Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) whereas MR X was actually suffering from Eagle Syndrome. The identification of such strength and weakness from the experience is in coherence with the evaluation phase of the Gibbs reflective cycle as it indicates the importance of recognising the positive and negative outcomes from the reflective experience (Adeani et al., 2020).
Analysis
I think that one of the reason why I experienced the procedure of 3D Imaging as one of the strengths within my experience is due to my prowess in technical skills. It is because the development of 3D image of the spine would require the use of CT scan and such machine could only be used if the individual is vested with effective technical skills. Therefore, I think that my technical skill has been influential in generating a positive experience from the situation. However, I feel that my lack of extensive knowledge in types of joint disorders has been the reason behind the initial mistaken diagnosis of TMD. It is because the Eagle Syndrome is a rare type of TMD, which can only be identified through evaluation of joint connectivity structure and requires expertise in joint disorder and my lack of expertise in joint disorder influenced me to perceive Eagle Syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD). Therefore, I feel that the lack of proper knowledge in joint disorder has adversely affected my experience while working with my chiropractor. This is in alignment with the analysis phase of the gibbs reflective cycle as the phase signifies the importance of finding the causative factor behind the strengths and weakness of the experience (Markkanen et al., 2020).
Conclusion
I have come to realise that I need to improve my knowledge in the domains of joint disorder to develop as a successful professional chiropractor. Furthermore, I have concluded that the elevation of my technical skills might serve as a potential for recognising difficult spine deformities.
Action Plan
In an attempt to improve my knowledge in the context of joint disorder, I have decided to enrol in an online education course on Coursera. I will enroll in “Human Physiology and Anatomy 101” course and aim at completing the course with 95% marks. For improving my technical skills, I would participate in training workshops where the use of new medical technology are being taught.
Conclusion
The study provides an exemplary account about the experience with detection of Eagle syndrome. The findings of the study suggest that the differentiation between the Eagle syndrome and Temporomandibular Disorder (TMD) is one of the critical challenges that has emerged in the experience.
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References
Diab, E., Masmoudi, I., Leclercq, C., Flores, C., Louin, L., Bettoni, J. and Godefroy, O., 2020. A pain like no other: From cluster to headache to Eagle’s syndrome, a case report. Cephalalgia, 40(12), pp.1394-1397.
Adeani, I.S., Febriani, R.B. and Syafryadin, S., 2020. Using GIBBS’reflective cycle in making reflections of literary analysis. Indonesian EFL Journal, 6(2), pp.139-148.
Markkanen, P., Välimäki, M., Anttila, M. and Kuuskorpi, M., 2020. A reflective cycle: Understanding challenging situations in a school setting. Educational Research, 62(1), pp.46-62.
Li, Y., Chen, W., Liu, C. and Deng, M., 2020. Nurses’ psychological feelings about the application of Gibbs reflective cycle of adverse events. American Journal of Nursing, 9(2), pp.74-78.
