Some problems in teaching clinical decision-making

Evaluation of a number of courses in clinical decision-making (CDM) indicates that there are well-defined problems in teaching this subject. This paper describes some of the difficulties and proposes appropriate remedies. Problems in teaching undergraduates are different from those in the postgraduate years. Three areas where the principles of CDM are particularly useful to undergraduates relate to the structuring of clinical problems, clarifying the place of value judgements and developing new concepts regarding test ordering, particularly the importance of false positive rates and the overwhelming power of prior probabilities. In postgraduate teaching the most important areas relate to the origin of probability and of utility estimates. The complexity of decision analysis also needs critical comment. Two remedies are suggested which will help course developers when faced with these problems. Firstly, the early introduction of concepts regarding sensitivity analysis, making it clear that with the aid of CDM we are able to deal with a wide range of probability estimates, precision rarely being required in clinical medicine. Secondly, the availability of educational support systems will help expert clinicians teach CDM concepts within their own field.