Research
In 1978 Elstein, Shulman and Sprafka applied cognitive science methods to investigate physicians’ clinical competence, developing a model of hypothetico-deductive reasoning which proposed that physicians reason by generating and testing a set of hypotheses to explain clinical data. This is an example of backward (hypothesis-to-data) reasoning. In 1986, Patel and Groen demonstrated that experts who accurately diagnosed complex clinical problems used forward reasoning (data to hypothesis), in contrast to novice subjects who used backward reasoning and misdiagnosed or partially diagnosed the same problems.
Patel also applied text comprehension methods to understanding the use of clinical practice guidelines with the goal of increasing adoption of best practices. Patel and colleagues have recently argued for new paradigm for error studies, where instead of zero error tolerance, detection and correction of potential error is viewed as an integral part of cognitive work in a complex workplace.
She is the author of more than 300 publications in cognitive psychology, biomedical informatics, medical education and related fields.
Read more about this topic: Vimla L. Patel
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