The end of the year lends itself to some reflective practice. This is the act of thinking about our experiences and actions in order to learn from them for the future - specifically to improve patient care, our own well-being, and professional development. While the use of reflective practices has been show to help support medical trainees and is being explored for practicing physicians, we encourage you to try a few of these practices right now.

• Discuss a challenging case with a colleague
• Journal patient interactions - or even using a quick rating scale to note how you feel
• Participate in interdisciplinay case discussions with your team
• Ask, "Now what?" to allow for goal setting and decision-making after difficult encounters
• Pay attention to signs of burnout and offer empathy to yourself and others

For your patients, you can try modeling this reflective practice in the office by asking, "What was your favorite part of this year? Why?" and "What was your favorite part of the visit today? What should we try next time?"

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year from the Keystones and Mount Sinai Parenting Center team!