title: An analysis of clinical reasoning through a recent and comprehensive approach: the dual-process theory.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Clinical reasoning plays a major role in the ability of doctors to make diagnoses and decisions. It is considered as the physician's most critical competence, and has been widely studied by physicians, educationalists, psychologists and sociologists. Since the 1970s, many theories about clinical reasoning in medicine have been put forward.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This paper aims at exploring a comprehensive approach: the "dual-process theory", a model developed by cognitive psychologists over the last few years.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  After 40 years of sometimes contradictory studies on clinical reasoning, the dual-process theory gives us many answers on how doctors think while making diagnoses and decisions. It highlights the importance of physicians' intuition and the high level of interaction between analytical and non-analytical processes. However, it has not received much attention in the medical education literature. The implications of dual-process models of reasoning in terms of medical education will be discussed.
authors: Prehospital Emergency Care Service (SAMU 67)-Centre for Emergency Care Teaching (CESU 67), Strasbourg University Hospital, Strasbourg, France. thierry.pelaccia@wanadoo.fr
authors: Thierry
authors: T
authors: Pelaccia
authors: Jacques
authors: J
authors: Tardif
authors: Emmanuel
authors: E
authors: Triby
authors: Bernard
authors: B
authors: Charlin
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D003657:Decision Making; D003951:Diagnostic Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D030141:Feedback, Psychological; D006801:Humans; D019545:Intuition; D017145:Models, Educational; D010363:Pattern Recognition, Automated; D011582:Psychological Theory