Skip to main content

Main menu

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers

User menu

  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in

Search

  • Advanced search
British Journal of General Practice
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
  • RCGP
    • BJGP for RCGP members
    • BJGP Open
    • RCGP eLearning
    • InnovAIT Journal
    • Jobs and careers
  • Subscriptions
  • Alerts
  • Log in
  • Follow bjgp on Twitter
  • Visit bjgp on Facebook
  • Blog
  • Listen to BJGP podcast
  • Subscribe BJGP on YouTube
Intended for Healthcare Professionals
British Journal of General Practice

Advanced Search

  • HOME
  • ONLINE FIRST
  • CURRENT ISSUE
  • ALL ISSUES
  • AUTHORS & REVIEWERS
  • SUBSCRIBE
  • BJGP LIFE
  • MORE
    • About BJGP
    • Conference
    • Advertising
    • eLetters
    • Alerts
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Librarian information
    • Resilience
    • COVID-19 Clinical Solutions
Out of Hours

Books: ABC of Clinical Reasoning

Sound and Rational Decision Making

Ben Norris
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (656): 129. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3399/bjgp17X689737
Ben Norris
Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital, Exeter, Devon. E-mail:
Roles: GP trainee
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • For correspondence: ben.norris@nhs.net
  • Article
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF
Loading
Nicola Cooper and John Frain Wiley-Blackwell, 2016, PB, 64pp, £24.99, 978-1119059080
Figure

Sound decision making is routinely cited as a cornerstone of clinical practice. But what techniques actually underlie this process, and why does it — all too often — go wrong? The answers to these questions, and more, are provided by the authors of this book, who have successfully compressed the burgeoning subject of clinical reasoning into a succinct and easily accessible textbook.

The initial chapters review the main components of clinical decision making. These include a rational, evidence-based appraisal of the utility of history taking, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. Proposed models of clinical reasoning are then outlined, including an illuminating discussion of the application of Kahneman’s theory of type 1 and type 2 thinking in reaching a diagnosis.1

Real-life examples are used to candidly illustrate the results of flawed clinical reasoning in chapters covering cognitive biases and human factors in decision making, which should have a salutary effect on medical practitioners of all degrees of experience. This section forcefully makes the case for greater consideration of tools to counter these intellectual pitfalls, suggestions of which are presented in the next chapter. These strategies are based on the concept of ‘metacognition’ — thinking about thinking, by which we can identify the blind spots in our own judgements.

The penultimate chapter provides a useful reminder of the values and limitations of guidelines and decision aids, with the final section devoted to methods of teaching clinical reasoning; an appeal that one hopes will be taken up widely.

The text attempts to cover a lot of ground for such a slim volume and occasional sections seem a little cramped. The overall effect, though, is to enthusiastically and intelligently convey the importance of a so far underappreciated yet vital aspect of clinical practice.

Readers should not expect this text to provide a complete summary of the subject (a comprehensive bibliography is supplied). Nor should they expect a single reading to provide an instant remedy to deficiencies in their own decision making because, as the editors state, developing sound clinical reasoning is a ‘lifelong’ task. With that in mind, picking up this book would make an excellent start.

  • © British Journal of General Practice 2017

REFERENCE

  1. 1.↵
    1. Kahneman D
    (2012) Thinking, fast and slow (Penguin, London).
Back to top
Previous ArticleNext Article

In this issue

British Journal of General Practice: 67 (656)
British Journal of General Practice
Vol. 67, Issue 656
March 2017
  • Table of Contents
  • Index by author
Download PDF
Download PowerPoint
Article Alerts
Or,
sign in or create an account with your email address
Email Article

Thank you for recommending British Journal of General Practice.

NOTE: We only request your email address so that the person to whom you are recommending the page knows that you wanted them to see it, and that it is not junk mail. We do not capture any email address.

Enter multiple addresses on separate lines or separate them with commas.
Books: ABC of Clinical Reasoning
(Your Name) has forwarded a page to you from British Journal of General Practice
(Your Name) thought you would like to see this page from British Journal of General Practice.
CAPTCHA
This question is for testing whether or not you are a human visitor and to prevent automated spam submissions.
Citation Tools
Books: ABC of Clinical Reasoning
Ben Norris
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (656): 129. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X689737

Citation Manager Formats

  • BibTeX
  • Bookends
  • EasyBib
  • EndNote (tagged)
  • EndNote 8 (xml)
  • Medlars
  • Mendeley
  • Papers
  • RefWorks Tagged
  • Ref Manager
  • RIS
  • Zotero

Share
Books: ABC of Clinical Reasoning
Ben Norris
British Journal of General Practice 2017; 67 (656): 129. DOI: 10.3399/bjgp17X689737
del.icio.us logo Digg logo Reddit logo Twitter logo CiteULike logo Facebook logo Google logo Mendeley logo
  • Tweet Widget
  • Facebook Like
  • Google Plus One
  • Mendeley logo Mendeley

Jump to section

  • Top
  • Article
    • REFERENCE
  • Figures & Data
  • Info
  • eLetters
  • PDF

More in this TOC Section

  • Fakery and science
  • Viewpoint: Redundant subjectivity?
  • Books: A Layman’s Guide to Psychiatry and Psychoanalysis
Show more Out of Hours

Related Articles

Cited By...

Intended for Healthcare Professionals

BJGP Life

BJGP Open

 

@BJGPjournal's Likes on Twitter

 
 

British Journal of General Practice

NAVIGATE

  • Home
  • Current Issue
  • All Issues
  • Online First
  • Authors & reviewers

RCGP

  • BJGP for RCGP members
  • BJGP Open
  • RCGP eLearning
  • InnovAiT Journal
  • Jobs and careers

MY ACCOUNT

  • RCGP members' login
  • Subscriber login
  • Activate subscription
  • Terms and conditions

NEWS AND UPDATES

  • About BJGP
  • Alerts
  • RSS feeds
  • Facebook
  • Twitter

AUTHORS & REVIEWERS

  • Submit an article
  • Writing for BJGP: research
  • Writing for BJGP: other sections
  • BJGP editorial process & policies
  • BJGP ethical guidelines
  • Peer review for BJGP

CUSTOMER SERVICES

  • Advertising
  • Contact subscription agent
  • Copyright
  • Librarian information

CONTRIBUTE

  • BJGP Life
  • eLetters
  • Feedback

CONTACT US

BJGP Journal Office
RCGP
30 Euston Square
London NW1 2FB
Tel: +44 (0)20 3188 7400
Email: journal@rcgp.org.uk

British Journal of General Practice is an editorially-independent publication of the Royal College of General Practitioners
© 2022 British Journal of General Practice

Print ISSN: 0960-1643
Online ISSN: 1478-5242