A1 Refereed original research article in a scientific journal
Misconceptions in medicine, their origin and development in education and working life
Authors: Henny P.A. Boshuizen, Kosala N. Marambe
Publisher: ELSEVIER SCI LTD
Publication year: 2020
Journal: International Journal of Educational Research
Journal name in source: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH
Journal acronym: INT J EDUC RES
Article number: UNSP 101536
Volume: 100
Number of pages: 16
ISSN: 0883-0355
eISSN: 1873-538X
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijer.2020.101536
Abstract
This article reports on a theory-led narrative review regarding misconceptions and other weaknesses in medical knowledge, considering the development of the advanced knowledge structures that are required for the successful development, maintenance, and updating of medical professional cognitive skills. The identified studies were ordered according to different development phases of expertise, and research topics were categorised as biomedical and systems knowledge, assumptions about disease, patient types (especially the elderly), skills, attitudes, knowledge gaps, and learning. The following topic combinations were found: naive or false beliefs and perceptions of disease (in primary and secondary schools); misconceptions regarding biomedical knowledge and complex systems (in secondary school and beyond); and beliefs about patients and how to deal with them (in medical school and beyond). Grounds for these misconceptions, beliefs, and other weaknesses were conjectured to be attributable to the students' sociocultural backgrounds; the inherent difficulties of the domain, requiring systems thinking instead of simple causation; teaching materials that include simplifications and misconceptions, and do not highlight elements that contradict common misconceptions; or factors inherent in medical science and the profession itself (i.e., the biomedical model that dominates the profession, and methodological heuristics that favour error reduction at the cost of patient diversity). The article concludes by discussing the implications for medical practice, and educational measures that might extend their influence beyond medical school into career-long learning, which is often complicated by the regular changes in practice and science that occur during a medical career.
This article reports on a theory-led narrative review regarding misconceptions and other weaknesses in medical knowledge, considering the development of the advanced knowledge structures that are required for the successful development, maintenance, and updating of medical professional cognitive skills. The identified studies were ordered according to different development phases of expertise, and research topics were categorised as biomedical and systems knowledge, assumptions about disease, patient types (especially the elderly), skills, attitudes, knowledge gaps, and learning. The following topic combinations were found: naive or false beliefs and perceptions of disease (in primary and secondary schools); misconceptions regarding biomedical knowledge and complex systems (in secondary school and beyond); and beliefs about patients and how to deal with them (in medical school and beyond). Grounds for these misconceptions, beliefs, and other weaknesses were conjectured to be attributable to the students' sociocultural backgrounds; the inherent difficulties of the domain, requiring systems thinking instead of simple causation; teaching materials that include simplifications and misconceptions, and do not highlight elements that contradict common misconceptions; or factors inherent in medical science and the profession itself (i.e., the biomedical model that dominates the profession, and methodological heuristics that favour error reduction at the cost of patient diversity). The article concludes by discussing the implications for medical practice, and educational measures that might extend their influence beyond medical school into career-long learning, which is often complicated by the regular changes in practice and science that occur during a medical career.
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