TY - JOUR T1 - The thinking doctor: clinical decision making in contemporary medicine JF - Clinical Medicine JO - Clin Med SP - 343 LP - 346 DO - 10.7861/clinmedicine.16-4-343 VL - 16 IS - 4 AU - Michael Trimble AU - Paul Hamilton Y1 - 2016/08/01 UR - http://www.rcpjournals.org/content/16/4/343.abstract N2 - 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. ER -