Question

Herbert A. Simon (one of the most influential social scientists of the twentieth century) introduced the concept of “bounded rationality,” the idea that, in decision-making, rationality of individuals is limited by the information they have, the cognitive limitations of their minds, and the finite amount of time they have to make a decision. While in this session we read a lot about probabilistic clinical reasoning, what could be some common barriers that prevent clinicians to effectively follow this reasoning style? Under what conditions we should encourage a clinician to rely on his or her “instinct” to make a clinical decision (or any professional making their professional decisions)?

Answer 1

There are various barriers which prevents clinical reasoning as tool for physicians like:

1. Emergency and time constraints
2. High cost of research of unknown diseases
3. Haphazard knowledge of patients history
4. Side effects of pre existence drugs used by patients

All these hamper clinical reasoning process and hence under conditions of extreme time constraints and intense pressure we must acknowledge physicians to use their cognitive instincts and intuitive facultues with experience to cure patients.