Research has shown that expert clinicians make a medical diagnosis through a process of hypothesis generation and verification. Experts begin the diagnostic process by generating a list of diagnostic hypotheses using intuitive, nonanalytic reasoning. Analytic reasoning then allows the clinician to test and verify or reject each hypothesis, leading to a diagnostic conclusion. In this article, we focus on the initial step of hypothesis generation and review how expert clinicians use experiential knowledge to intuitively recognize a medical diagnosis.
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Dr. Brush earned his medical degree from the University of Virginia in 1980 after finishing his undergraduate studies at Hampden-Sydney Collegein 1976. He completed his internal medicine internship and residency at the University of Vermont ...
