Clinical medicine (London, England)
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Diagnostic errors are responsible for a significant number of adverse events. Logical reasoning and good decision-making skills are key factors in reducing such errors, but little emphasis has traditionally been placed on how these thought processes occur, and how errors could be minimised. In this article, we explore key cognitive ideas that underpin clinical decision making and suggest that by employing some simple strategies, physicians might be better able to understand how they make decisions and how the process might be optimised.
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Over recent decades, the perception of osteoporosis has changed from that of an inevitable consequence of ageing, to that of a well characterised and treatable chronic non-communicable disease, with major impacts on individuals, healthcare systems and societies. Characterisation of its pathophysiology from the hierarchical structure of bone and the role of its cell population, development of effective strategies for the identification of those most appropriate for treatment, and an increasing armamentarium of efficacious pharmacological therapies, have underpinned this evolution. Despite this marked progress, individuals who experience a fragility fracture remain under-treated in many areas of the world, and there is substantial need for investment both in secondary and primary prevention globally. In this brief article, we give an overview of the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, and summarise current and future approaches to its assessment and -treatment.
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In this article, we discuss the practical usefulness of selecting future medical students on the basis of increasingly popular non-academic tests (eg multiple mini-interviews, situational judgment tests) in addition to academic tests. Non-academic tests assess skills such as ethical decision making, communication and collaboration skills, or traits such as conscientiousness. ⋯ We provide some numerical examples in the context of medical student selection. Finally, we suggest that optimising training in non-academic skills may be a more successful alternative than selecting students on the basis of these skills.