The development of clinical reasoning expertise

The main objective of medical schools is to turn relative novices into knowledgeable and skilled professionals who are able to solve clinical problems and are aware of the reach of their knowledge and skills and what goes beyond their capacities. In this chapter we seek to answer the question of whether clinical reasoning can be taught to medical students. We start by describing the development from novice in medicine to expert, providing a theoretical cognitive psychological framework. Several approaches to clinical reasoning skills training are then described, and the implications of this theory are considered for the way medical education can improve students’ clinical reasoning