Five decades of research and theorization on clinical reasoning: a critical review

Clinical reasoning is a complex cognitive process that is essential to evaluate and manage a patient’s medical problem. The aim of this paper was to provide a critical review of the research literature on clinical reasoning theories and models. To conduct our study, we applied the process of conducting a literature review in four stages in accordance with the approach of Carnwell and Daly. First, we defined the scope of the review as being limited to clinical reasoning theories and models in medical education. In the second stage, we conducted a search based on related words in PubMed, Google Scholar, PsycINFO, ERIC, ScienceDirect and Web of Science databases. In the third stage, we classified the results of the review into three categories, and in the fourth stage, we concluded and informed further studies. Based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 31 articles were eligible to be reviewed. Three theories and two models were recognized and classified into three categories. Several theories and models have been proposed in relation to clinical reasoning, but it seems that these theories and models could only explain part of this complex process and not the whole process. Therefore, to fulfill this gap, it may be helpful to build a Meta-model or Meta-theory, which unified all the models, and theories of clinical reasoning.