Previously submitted to: Journal of Medical Internet Research (no longer under consideration since May 16, 2025)
Date Submitted: Apr 12, 2025
Open Peer Review Period: Apr 13, 2025 - Jun 8, 2025
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Approaches and Barriers to Cultivating Critical Thinking Skills for Effective Clinical Decision Making
ABSTRACT
Critical thinking is an integral part of clinical decision-making in healthcare, and it is a crucial skill that medical students must possess both personally and professionally. As a result, medical colleges must prioritize including it in their curricula and programs to ensure that future healthcare professionals have the necessary skills to make evidence-based decisions and improve patient outcomes. The promotion of critical thinking skills has been recognized as a central focus in medical education as it allows future healthcare providers to analyze information, identify biases and assumptions, and make informed decisions. In this review article, numerous teaching and learning strategies that have been shown to be helpful in encouraging critical thinking in medical education, such as problem-based learning, case-based learning, team-based learning, and simulation-based learning, have been investigated. Moreover, it illustrates the drive exhibited by both educators and learners, along with the challenges encountered and the influence of technology on the promotion of critical thinking in medical education. To improve the quality of healthcare, the paper recommends that medical educators adopt teaching and learning methods that encourage critical thinking in their students to make informed and effective clinical decisions in their future carriers. However, there is still work to be done to overcoming the barriers and implement innovative ways for improving critical thinking approaches.
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