Relationship between ongoing learning approaches and development of clinical reasoning ability

Abstract

Objective: There are close similarities between the advice for improving clinical reasoning and characteristics of students with a deep learning approach. No study in the literature has explored the relationship between ongoing learning approaches and clinical reasoning ability. This study was designed to explore this relationship. Design: Cross sectional study Setting: A single medical school at the University of New South Wales Subjects: Two hundred and sixty year-4 students were invited to participate voluntarily in this study after institutional ethics approval was obtained Interventions: The Revised Two-Factor Study Process Questionnaire and Diagnostic Thinking Inventory (DTI) were used. A potential relationship between these two variables was explored using the Pearson correlation. Main Outcome Measures: Learning approaches and clinical reasoning abilities of participants Results: One hundred and eighty two out of 216 (84.3%) students responded. There was a significant positive correlation between deep approach and DTI scores while there was a significant negative correlation between surface approach and DTI scores. Conclusions: Ongoing deep approach of early clinical students can improve the development of their clinical reasoning ability while ongoing surface approach may impair this ability. Evaluating ongoing learning approach may be important in sustaining clinical reasoning development.