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Shaping Clinical Reasoning

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Brain, Decision Making and Mental Health

Part of the book series: Integrated Science ((IS,volume 12))

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Summary

Clinical reasoning is at the core of all health-related professions, and it is long recognized as a critical skill for clinical practice. Yet, it is difficult to characterize it, as clinical reasoning combines different high-thinking abilities. Also, it is not content that is historically taught or learned in a particular subject. But clinical reasoning became increasingly visible when this competency is explicitly stated in the curricula of educational programs in health-related professions. Teaching and learning an abstract concept such as clinical reasoning in complement to the core knowledge and the procedural competencies expected from healthcare professionals raises some concerns regarding its implementation, the best way to do it, and how to assess it. This book chapter intends to discuss the need to invest in the development of clinical reasoning skills in the health-related graduation programme. It addresses some of the pedagogical and theoretical frameworks for fostering high-level reasoning and problem-solving skills in the clinical areas and the effectiveness and success of different pedagogic activities to develop and shape clinical reasoning throughout the curriculum.

Graphical Abstract/Art Performance

The elements involved in clinical reasoning.

As medical educators […] we know that medical knowledge and competence is developmental; however, habits of the mind – behavior and practical – and wisdom are achieved through deliberate practice that can be achieved throughout medical school and with further refinement of medical skills during the clinical years […]

Allison A. Vanderbilt et al. [1]

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Acknowledgements

This work is being developed within the scope of the “Critical Thinking for Successful Jobs–Think4Jobs” project (Ref. Nr. 2020-1-EL01-KA203-078797) funded by the European Commission/EACEA, through the ERASMUS+ Programme. “The European Commission support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents which reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.”

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Comprehensive Health Research Centre, Évora, Portugal

    Rita Payan-Carreira

  2. Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Évora, Polo da Mitra [Apartado 94], 7002-774, Évora, Portugal

    Rita Payan-Carreira & Joana Reis

  3. Escola Superior Agrária (ESA), Polytechnic Institute of Viana do Castelo, CISAS, Viana do Castelo, Portugal

    Joana Reis

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  1. Rita Payan-Carreira
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Correspondence to Rita Payan-Carreira .

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  1. Universal Scientific Education and Research Network (USERN), Stockholm, Sweden

    Nima Rezaei

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Payan-Carreira, R., Reis, J. (2023). Shaping Clinical Reasoning. In: Rezaei, N. (eds) Brain, Decision Making and Mental Health. Integrated Science, vol 12. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-15959-6_9

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