Defining and Exploring Experience in Health Education

The term “experience” is widely used in health education literature. However, it has not been explicitly defined in this field, which could lead to multiple interpretations by researchers, teachers, and health students. Philosophical works offer clear definitions of “experience,” which can provide useful theoretical insights for its appropriation in research, practice, and teaching. Notably, pragmatist, rationalist, and phenomenological philosophers John Dewey, Georges Canguilhem, and Maurice Merleau-Ponty define experience as the significance that emerges during the interaction between a subject and its environment. They distinguish between episodic (making an experience) and cumulative (acquiring experience) dimensions. The article further explores the implications of this definition in health education, particularly in relation to experiential learning, simulation-based education, and assessment. This conceptualization has also paved the way for a method of exploring experience designed to facilitate awareness, known as the “explicitation interview.” Studies using this method have yielded interesting results in understanding the activities of students, health care professionals, and patients in real-life situations, particularly regarding the influence of context on reasoning and decision-making. The explicitation interview can also be used as a training tool through the supervision of past situations. Practical guidance for its implementation in educational settings is provided. Overall, highlighting individuals’ meaning-making processes opens new perspectives for research, teaching, and assessment in health professions education.