What Is Ejournaling?

INTRODUCTION TO JOURNALING

According to the Webster’s dictionary, the definition of a journal is a record of experiences, ideas, or reflections kept regularly for personal use (Webster, 2003). As per the outline of this eJournal, the objectives of eJournaling are to establish a clear overview of your learning progress, to gain an insight of your own strengths and weaknesses as a learner. In addition to this the ejournals are also supposed to help you realize learning strategies which suits your personal needs, to develop the capability of planning to overcoming learning difficulties and to develop an understanding and appreciation of the importance of self-evaluation to improve performance. The eJournals have helped me keep track of my progress.

Writing things down has lead me to an even deeper understanding and wisdom. It has helped me solve problems that I found was hard for me to solve when I was stuck in a first-person viewpoint. After I recorded the situation in the eJournal and then re-examined it from a third person perspective the solution becomes clear. For example, in my Journal entry from Sept 28, 2013, “I was really scared after writing the fundamentals quiz cause there was not enough time for me to go over the questions. Although I have written quizzes in university where we had only 1 minute per question, it was still hard for me. However, I do understand that the instructors are trying to get us prepared for the boards where the timing will be one question per minute. Despite of the time being an issue I still got an A- which was a total surprise.” After writing this eJournal entry, I realized that I needed to time myself when doing the quizzes, so I did not end up in a situation where I did not have enough time. I now check the clock every 10 minutes during a quiz/ exam and try to have at least 10 questions done by then so I don’t end up running out of time for the future quizzes (which I have not since this entry). Sometimes the solution is so obvious that you are shocked you did not see it

It is wonderful to go back and re-read journal entries from first year and see how much real improvement has been made. For example, in my Journal entry from Sept 18, 2013, “I now finally know how to check blood pressure and pulse. Although I cannot seem to be able to check respiratory rate, mainly because it is awkward. A few classmates have suggested asking the patients to put their arms across their chest while checking their pulse and then check it. I definitely have to try this method out.” Then from my Journal entry from October 13th, 2013 “When we got our feedback from the patient, it was much better than we expected. The patient said he felt comfortable and we asked him all the right questions and gave him the right treatment. It definitely felt great to know that we did everything right. I am getting better at checking the patient’s respiratory rates too.” This helps me in my present moment too by reminding me that I am in fact growing and changing, even when it feels like I am standing still. It is very eye- opening to read these eJournals and remembering where I was at this point in my life and how much progress I have made since