How Doctors Think: Clinical Judgment and the Practice of Medicine

How Doctors Think defines the nature and importance of clinical judgment. Although physicians make use of science, this book argues that medicine is not itself a science but rather an interpretive practice that relies on clinical reasoning. A physician looks at the patient’s history along with the presenting physical signs and symptoms and juxtaposes these with clinical experience and empirical studies to construct a tentative account of the illness.
How Doctors Think is divided into four parts. Part one introduces the concept of medicine as a practice rather than a science; part two discusses the idea of causation; part three delves into the process of forming clinical judgment; and part four considers clinical judgment within the uncertain nature of medicine itself. In How Doctors Think, Montgomery contends that assuming medicine is strictly a science can have adverse side effects, and suggests reducing these by recognizing the vital role of clinical judgment.

＂This is a book that will be read with pleasure by anyone interested in how medicine is done and it is a book that should be required reading for all students starting their clinical training.＂--Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine

＂Montgomery has certainly written a piece that will stimulate people to think more deeply about medical and wider health professional practice. It is a text I will recommend to students and colleagues.＂--PsycCRITIQUES

Professor of Medical Humanities and Bioethics, Northwestern University