Clinical Reasoning as Axis of Teaching View PDF

Pablo A Olavegogeascoechea
Medicine, National University Of Comahue, Río Negro , Argentina

Published on: 2016-08-31

Abstract

The basis of this methodology process is base on the constructivism theory: all knowledge resulting from previous knowledge and new experiencies, which will contribut to conform a novel knowledge. The work proposal of this Method is based fundamentally on the John Dewey´s learning theory; he believed that teaching experiences should arouse curiosity, enhance personal initiative, and allow free expression of learners’ ideas. In explaining the importance of individual experiences on the development of expertise, he wrote, “What [the student] has learned in the way of knowledge and skill in one situation becomes an instrument of understanding and dealing effectively with the situations which follow”.

Keywords

Medical reasoning; Clinical; Teaching

Introduction

The formulation of a differential diagnosis is one of the most important and intellectualy challenging aspect of medical reasioning. The clinical reasoning process is helpful as a framework or roadmap to guide students as they begin to understand the elements of reasoning inparticular cases. Thus, they can do it through a method, called “clinical method” or “diagnostic process”, is used not only in many medical residency systems but also in academic institutions or resolving medical problemas. In these frame of medical training, the so-called inductive-deductive inference is a mental process that physicians do, supporting by: at first, the information that the patient provides through the medical examination of the patient. In this way, is expected that doctor makes the clinical diagnosis through a mental process of analysis and, in this instance, without the support of the complementary examinations. This process is an intermediate reasoning that allows to establish degree of probablility of adiagnostic hypotheses (at the first moment syndromic diagnoses, then pathological and finally aetiological diagnoses will be obtained). From there, the physician decides an exploratory study establishing the necessary complementary examinations that allow to confront the differential diagnosis or to validate the one of greater probability, completing: “the Art of Diagnosis”.