Teaching Critical Thinking in Graduate Medical Education: Lessons Learned in Diagnostic Radiology

Abstract

The 2014 Institute of Medicine report, Graduate Medical Education that Meets the Nation’s Health Needs, challenged the current graduate medical training process and encouraged new opportunities to redefine the fundamental skills and abilities of the physician workforce. This workforce should be skilled in critically evaluating the current systems to improve care delivery and health. To meet these goals, current challenges, motivations, and educational models at the medical school and graduate medical education levels related to formal training in nonclinical aspects of medicine, especially critical thinking, are reviewed. Our diagnostic radiology training program is presented as a “case study” to frame the review.

Retrieval practice enhances the ability to evaluate complex physiology information

“…Doing well in the medical professions involves a certain amount of memorisation and recall (e.g. knowing anatomical terms), but students also need training in higher‐order critical thinking skills, such as accurately diagnosing an illness with atypical symptoms, to perform well as a student and as a professional. There is a growing call from medical educators to define, enhance and track students’ higher‐order thinking skills given their importance for success in the field .…”

“…There is a growing call from medical educators to define, enhance and track students’ higher‐order thinking skills given their importance for success in the field . Approaches have been suggested such as embedding more higher‐order thinking tasks within medical training programmes, creating critical‐thinking milestones students should reach within their training programes, teaching pre‐medical and medical students learning strategies that enhance higher‐order thinking, and perfecting the way that critical thinking skills are defined and assessed . The current study approaches the problem by teaching undergraduates, who may be future medical professionals, learning strategies that enhance their ability to employ higher‐order thinking skills such as evaluation and synthesis.…”

Stairway to the Stars: Comparing Health and Tourism Professionals Views About Critical Thinking

“…[6]). As expressed by Morrissey et al [15]: "The goal is to produce the workforce of the future-physicians who have the skills to innovate and improve health. This strategy shifts the focus from self-reliance, self-preservation, and passivity to team building and collaboration.…”

National Board of Medical Examiners and Curriculum Change: What Do Scores Tell Us? A Case Study at the University of Balamand Medical School

“…Medical education has evolved over the years from "didactic lectures, with each individual course delivering information on a sub-set of individualized topics related to the specific department where the course was instructed" 1(p2) toward more integration between the basic and clinical science courses. The purpose of this shift is to develop medical students' understandings of the residency requirements and their aptitude in medicine, 1,2 on the one hand, and their analytical reasoning 2,3 and critical thinking skills, 4 on the other. These major curriculum changes are challenging and impact all aspects of the curriculum spanning from teaching methodology to assessment techniques.…”

“…3,[5][6][7] Medical schools are adapting their curriculum and redefining the fundamental skills and abilities by including clinical reasoning skills and implementing new teaching methodologies that enhance critical thinking in the medical practitioner. 4 Medical education is currently changing to integrate clinical skills as early as first preclinical year of Med I. 1,8 Similarly, some curricular changes focus on how didactic instruction can be combined or underpinned with case-based learning, problem-based learning, team-based learning, active learning, and independent learning exercises.…”