Deliberate practice is the idea that a skill is developed through executing that skill and reflecting on its performance. Throughout the past two weeks, I had began my internal medicine rotation. Our daily routine consists of arriving early enough to review the patient charts and visit each one in order to give updates at the table rounds. In the afternoon, the attending physician would take us to visit each patient and give an update at bedside. My very first presentation was extremely unpolished but by the end of two weeks, I improved drastically.
To actually develop a skill, you need practice. A lot of people are looking for a way to get really good at a skill whether that's in physical training, software development, or medicine. The secret is to practice. Most people who are really good at what they do aren't doing anything particularly groundbreaking. They are just putting in more hours than other people. Everyone has the same hours in a day, but these experts choose to spend their day refining their craft through deliberate practice.
Mere practice alone can be sufficient, but it goes a lot faster when it is deliberate. Deliberation means reflection. Think about what went well and what went wrong. Don't repeat the same mistakes twice. Having an expert opinion who can elucidate mistakes is important if you are not at the level of even recognizing what mistakes you're making.