Being a good clinician is not just about knowledge how doctors and other healthcare professionals think, reason and make decisions is arguably their most critical skill. While medical schools and postgraduate training programmes teach and assess the knowledge and skills required to practice as a doctor, few offer comprehensive training in clinical reasoning or decision making. This is important because studies suggest that diagnostic error is common and results in significant harm to patients and errors in reasoning account for the majority of diagnostic errors.

TheABC of Clinical Reasoning covers core elements of the thinking and decision making associated with clinical practice from what clinical reasoning is, what it involves and how to teach it. Informed by the latest advances in cognitive psychology, education and studies of expertise, theABC covers:

Evidence-based history and examinationUse and interpretation of diagnostic testsHow doctors think models of clinical reasoningCognitive and affective biasesMetacognition and cognitive de-biasing strategiesPatient-centred evidence based medicineTeaching clinical reasoning

From an international team of authors, theABC of Clinical Reasoning is essential reading for all students, medical professionals and other clinicians involved in diagnosis, in order to improve their decision-making skills and provide better patient care.

Nicola Cooper is Consultant Physician and Honorary Clinical Associate Professor, Derby Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, and Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK

John Frain is General Practitioner and Director of Clinical Skills, Division of Medical Sciences and Graduate Entry Medicine, University of Nottingham, UK

Contributors, vi

Preface, vii

1 Clinical Reasoning: An Overview, 1Nicola Cooper and John Frain

2 EvidenceBased History and Examination, 6Steven McGee and John Frain

3 Using and Interpreting Diagnostic Tests, 12Nicola Cooper

4 Models of Clinical Reasoning, 17Martin Hughes and Graham Nimmo

5 Cognitive Biases, 22Nicola Cooper

6 Human Factors, 27Nicola Cooper

7 Metacognition and Cognitive Debiasing, 33Pat Croskerry

8 Using Guidelines, Scores and Decision Aids, 39Maggie Bartlett and Simon Gay

9 Teaching Clinical Reasoning, 44Nicola Cooper, Ana L. Da Silva and Sian Powell

Recommended Books, Articles and Websites, 51

Index, 53