title: The thinking doctor: clinical decision making in contemporary medicine.
abstract: Diagnostic errors are responsible for a significant number of adverse events. Logical reasoning and good decision-making skills are key factors in reducing such errors, but little emphasis has traditionally been placed on how these thought processes occur, and how errors could be minimised. In this article, we explore key cognitive ideas that underpin clinical decision making and suggest that by employing some simple strategies, physicians might be better able to understand how they make decisions and how the process might be optimised.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Medical Education, Queen's University Belfast and honorary consultant physician, Belfast Health and Social Care Trust, Belfast, UK.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Trimble
authors.affiliation: Department of Clinical Biochemistry, Belfast Helath and Social Care Trust and honorary lecturer, Queen's University Belfast, Belfast, UK paul.hamilton@belfasttrust.hscni.net.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hamilton
mesh_terms: D002983:Clinical Competence; D000066491:Clinical Decision-Making; D006801:Humans; D019300:Medical Errors / Q000517:prevention & control*; D000067489:Metacognition; D010820:Physicians
keywords: Error; bias; decision making; metacognition; thinking