Abstract

One cannot overlook the fact that diagnostic errors which constitute the largest proportion of errors in medical care have a direct bearing on patient’s outcomes. Clinical reasoning ability is closely related to the avoidance of diagnostic errors and clinical reasoning during diagnosis has been explained by a “dual processes model” comprising two elements. The first is the intuitive process (System 1), which emphasizes intuition-based rapidity and the other is the analytical process (System 2), which is an analytical and a scientific process. In this review, the underemphasized intuition-based approach of the first system is highlighted and examined from a clinical and practical perspective.

Key words: Diagnosis, analytical, clinical, system 1, system 2