Twelve tips for teaching expertise in clinical reasoning

Background: Clinical reasoning is one of the most critical skills to teach to medical learners, yet clinician educators rarely receive adequate training on how to teach this topic. Aims: To enhance clinician educators’ ability to teach clinical reasoning. Methods: I conducted a review of cognitive, medical decision making, and expertise theory literature to develop practical tips that could be applied to typical teaching encounters. Results: Through the literature review, twelve tips were designed to provide a blueprint for teaching clinical reasoning on the wards or in the clinics. Conclusions: Teaching clinical reasoning is important and feasible. Teachers who explicitly teach problem solving and decision making may help learners to improve their diagnostic accuracy and treatment choices.

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