Critical Thinking

&
Medical Education
 In the 21st century, students must think their way through abstract
problems, work in teams, distinguish good information from bad, and be
multilingual and globally/ environmentally sensitive so that they can be more
effective in their disciplines
INTRODUCTION

These are the same characteristics expected of today’s medical students also.
Doctors are expected to take effective decisions in well defined and ill defined
medical emergencies.

Medical academics and practitioners have raised concerns about the low levels
of critical thinking and stress the need for fostering critical thinking among
medical practitioners.

We should attempt to provide a conceptual analysis of critical thinking with

reference to medical education along with measures to foster critical thinking
through relevant teaching learning and assessment methods
• Critical thinking is the ability and
willingness to assess claims and
WHAT IS CRITICAL THINKING
make objective judgments on The American Philosophical Association (APA)
the basis of well-supported defined critical thinking as purposeful, self-
reasons. regulatory judgment that uses cognitive
• It is the ability to look for flaws in tools such as interpretation, analysis,
arguments and resist claims that evaluation, inference, and explanation of
have no supporting evidence. the evidential, conceptual, methodological,
• It also fosters the ability to be criteriological, or contextual considerations
creative and constructive to on which judgment is based.
generate possible explanations The simplest definition is offered by Beyer (1995):
for findings, think of “Critical thinking means making reasoned judgments”.
implications, and apply new
knowledge to a broad range of In other words, critical thinking is a disciplined manner of
social and personal problems. thought that a person uses to assess the validity of
something (statements, news stories, arguments,
research etc.) page 3
COMPONENTS OF CRITICAL THINKING

Process Method Purpose

-by observing, experiencing,
- actively and skillfully reflecting, reasoning, or -for knowledge
conceptualizes, applies, analyzes, communicating; and freedom to
synthesizes, and/or evaluates Invent acquisition and action.
information/knowledge

Broader definition of critical thinking is-

“the art of analyzing and evaluating thinking with a view to improve it”
Within the medical profession, the latter broader definition makes a great deal of sense
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 asking questions
CRITICAL THINKING

CHARACTERISTICS
defining a problem
examining evidence
analyzing assumptions and biases
avoiding emotional reasoning
OF

avoiding oversimplification
considering other interpretations
tolerating ambiguity
ambiguity and doubt
metacognition
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 Essential Aspects of critical thinking
• Critical thinkers are skeptical, openminded, value fair-mindedness, respect evidence and reasoning,
Disposit respect clarity and precision, look at different points of view, and will change positions when reason leads
ions them to do so

• One must apply criteria to think critically and need to have conditions that must be met for something to
Criteria be judged as believable

• Is a statement or proposition with supporting evidence. Critical thinking involves identifying, evaluating,
Argument and constructing arguments

• The ability to infer a conclusion from one or multiple premises. To do so requires examining logical
Reasoning relationships among statements or data

• The way one views the world, which shapes one’s construction of meaning. In a search for understanding,
Point of critical thinkers view phenomena from many different points of view
View

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 Be capable of taking a position or changing a position as evidence dictates

CRI Remain relevant to the point

Seek information as well as precision in information

TIC Be open-minded

AL Take into account the entire situation

TH Keep the original problem in mind

Search for reasons

IN Deal with the components of a complex problem in an orderly manner

KE Seek a clear statement of the problem

Look for options

RS Exhibit sensitivity to others‟ feelings and depth of knowledge

Use credible sources

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 IN EDUCATION
Critical thinking is Rather, it is a It is best conceived,
not an isolated seminal goal which, therefore, as the hub
goal unrelated to done well, around which all
simultaneously other educational
other important facilitates a rainbow
goals in education of other ends.
ends cluster.

Example:
• As students learn to think more critically, they become more proficient at
historical, scientific, and mathematical thinking.
• They develop skills, abilities, and values critical to success in everyday life.
• All of this assumes, of course, that those who teach have a solid grounding
in critical thinking and in the teaching strategies essential to it.
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 PROCEDURAL USE
Asking Making Identifying
Questions Judgments Assumptions

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 STEPS IN CRITICAL THINKING
 Gathers Information From All Senses, Verbal And/or Written
Expressions, Reflection, Observation, Experience And Reasoning;
 Raises Vital, Clearly Defined Questions And Problems;
 Gathers And Assesses Relevant Information;
 Uses Abstract Ideas That Are Interpreted And Used Effectively;
 Comes To Well-reasoned Conclusions And Solutions;
 Tests Outcomes Against Relevant Criteria And Standards;
 Uses Alternative Thought Strategies According To Task/ Needs;
 Evaluates All Assumptions, Implications, And Practical Consequences;
 Communicates Effectively With Others In Generating Solutions To
Complex Problems.
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Critical Thinking in Medical Education
o Avoid litigations o Work in resource limited settings
o Develops confidence o Helps to climb the leadership ladder
o Increases productivity o Brings in innovation through creativity
o Succeed in one’s career. o Quality thinking and quality work output
o Learn throughout the life o Get higher grades. Understand the
o Avoid medical/clinical errors subjects better.
o Better clinical decision making o Identify better alternate options for
diagnosis and treatment.

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CAN CRITICAL THINKING BE TAUGHT?
 Critical thinking, commonly referred to as rational/
logical thought, has its birthplace in philosophy.

 Thus, critical thinking is a cognitive skill that can be

taught and learned.

 It is assumed that critical thinkers make better

decisions, are better problem solvers, and are
professionally more competent

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 Passive Learning
Oliver & Utermohlen (1995)see students as too often being passive receptors
of information. Through technology, the amount of information available
today is massive.
o Students need a guide to weed through the information and not just
passively accept it.

o Students need to “develop and effectively apply critical thinking skills :

 to their academic studies,

 to the complex problems that they will face, and
 to the critical choices they will be forced
 to make as a result of the information explosion and other rapid technological
changes.
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ACTIVE LEARNING
Active learning involves providing opportunities for students to meaningfully talk and
listen, write, read, and reflect on the content, ideas, issues, and concerns of an
academic subject.
There are four broad categories of learning strategies that one might use in an active
learning classroom:

o Individual activities
o Paired activities
o Informal small groups
o Cooperative student projects.
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Active or Passive?
The choice of these will depend on :

 the size of the class

 available physical space
 objectives of the class
 the amount of time the teacher can devote to the activity
 the comfort level of the teacher with the strategy

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LEARNING STRATEGY
• CONCEPT MAPPING
• THINK-PAIR-SHARE STRATEGY
• COLLABORATIVE WRITING
• BRAIN STORMING
• ONE MINUTE PAPER
• PROBLEM BASED LEARNING
• TEAM BASED LEARNING
• CASE BASED INSTRUCTION
• PANEL DISCUSSION
• PEER LEARNING
• SIMULATION

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ROLE OF A TEACHER
Gilhooly stated that compared to novices (medical students), experts:
• remember better;
• work forward;
• have better problem representations;
• are superior in knowledge, not basic mental capacities;
• become experts through extensive practice; and
• are critical thinkers in their area of specialty

Experts have a body of knowledge, strategies, and experiences

accumulated over many years. Therefore, an expert/physician may see a
different world—one that is not available to the novice.
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THE SOCRATIC METHOD OF TEACHING

• Critical thinking is a characteristic that dates back to the days of

Socrates.
• The Socratic method of teaching focuses on asking the learner
thought-provoking questions.
• Through the question and answer procedure, the teacher guides
the learner through critical thinking—allowing the learner to
examine their beliefs and biases for the purpose of enhancing
understanding and problem-solving
 SUMMARY

The worlds and perceptions of Experts as teachers must help the student to
acquire their organized knowledge, their
experts and novices are very
problem solving strategies, their wisdom,
different. and their compassion to help patients with
their disease

Experts must challenge It is important to remember that role

students to think critically and model is a potent teaching method
model critical thinking skills since teachers do not teach by what
they say, but rather by who they are!

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Thank You
Prof. Dr. Masum Habib

+880197904885
vc@rmu.edu.bd
www.rmu.edu.bd
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