Teaching clinical reasoning to medical students

Abstract

Clinical reasoning is often not explicitly addressed in the early medical school curriculum. As a result, students observe the process while on clinical placements with little or no understanding of the complex processes underlying it.

Clinical reasoning has significant implications for patient safety. Medical errors as a consequence of faulty reasoning contribute to patient morbidity and mortality. Educating medical students at an early stage about the processes of clinical reasoning and strategies to avoid associated errors can have positive impacts upon patient safety.

The authors propose that clinical reasoning should be taught as early as the first year of medical school, using frameworks, anatomical knowledge and mnemonics. Using this approach with simulated cases during the pre-clinical years, students will be equipped with an understanding of the clinical reasoning process as it unfolds before them while on clinical placements, enhancing their overall learning experience.