Interdisciplinary expertise in medical practice: Challenges of using and producing knowledge in complex problem-solving

Abstract

Purpose: Clarification of interdisciplinary expertise as the ability to deal with the cognitive and epistemological challenges of multi-and interdisciplinary problem-solving-such as in developing and implementing medical technology for diagnoses and treatment of patients in collaborations between clinicians, technicians and engineers-, and of the higher-order cognitive skills needed as part of this expertise. Method: Clarify the epistemological difficulties of combining scientific knowledge, methodologies and technologies from different disciplines in problem-solving, by drawing on recent developments in the philosophy of science. Conclusion: We argue that interdisciplinary expertise involves the cognitive ability to connect, translate and establish links between disciplinary knowledge, as well as the metacognitive ability to understand and explain the role of the disciplinary perspective-consisting of, e.g., basic concepts, theories, models, methodologies, technologies, and specific ways of measuring, reasoning and modeling in a disciplinein how knowledge is used and produced.

Research streams on digital transformation from a holistic business perspective: a systematic literature review and citation network analysis

“…With our work, we will encourage researchers to recognize the threats, continue the research about DT in business, and examine the advantages of the digital change. Moreover, in showing a holistic approach to DT research, our results can be regarded as the first step to foster researcher's adaptive expertise to understand and combine results and procedures from different fields (Boon et al 2019). For future research, we encourage a mutual interchange of findings from corresponding research streams, as we showed with our study.…”

“…Research streams on digital transformation from a holistic… may ease the comprehension of complementary conclusions from adjacent fields and foster an interdisciplinary understanding. In emerging topics, expertise is important, as is adaptive expertise, which describes the ability of researchers to understand and combine results and procedures from different fields (Boon et al 2019). Thus, our results can be regarded as the first step towards this ability by showing a holistic approach to DT research.…”

Teaching for implementation: A framework for building implementation research and practice capacity within the translational science workforce

“…With that approach in mind, we recommend teachers for implementation develop curricula and programs that are built on contemporary educational philosophy and theory. Especially relevant bodies of work to draw from include those centered on competency-based education 12, 25-27 , interprofessional education and collaboration 28 , and online learning strategies 29 .…”

“…Especially relevant bodies of work to draw from include those centered on competency-based education, 12,[25][26][27] interprofessional education and collaboration, 28 and online learning strategies. 29 Teachers for implementation should be strategic but generous with co-learning opportunities for implementation researchers and practitioners.…”

Educating for Responsible Research Practice in Biomedical Sciences

“…To participate in multi-disciplinary collaborations, contributors must understand how different perspectives guide varied ways of thinking (Boon et al, 2019 ). These perspectives cause experts from different disciplines to ask different questions, refer to different discipline-specific knowledge, and use diverse methods and technologies to come up with solutions.…”