How and why do undergraduate physiotherapy students use reflection in learning and practice?

Using a cross-sectional, mixed method design, this research studied how and why pre-clinical (PC) and clinical (C) level physiotherapy students (n=122) use reflection in learning and practice. Quantitative results showed no significant difference In reflective thinking between cohorts. Qualitative results showed C students were exposed to more experiences that triggered variety of timing and greater depth of reflective thinking. Both cohorts were predominantly extrinsically motivated to reflect. To foster deeper levels of reflection in physiotherapy students; consistent exposure, guidance and opportunity to practise reflective thinking using concrete experiences with intrinsic triggers should be scaffolded throughout PC and C learning environments.