The American journal of occupational therapy : official publication of the American Occupational Therapy Association
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A primary aim of occupational therapy education is to teach students how to think like practitioners, that is, how to engage in clinical reasoning. Since the early 1980s, occupational therapy clinical reasoning research has elucidated a language that describes the various types of thinking therapists use in clinical practice, a language that has the potential to make previously tacit thought processes accessible to conscious examination and improvement. ⋯ This article examines occupational therapy teaching methods using the language of clinical reasoning, categorizing them by the types of clinical reasoning they promote. Current clinical reasoning language is reviewed, and teaching strategies to facilitate the various types of clinical reasoning are described.