How Do Doctors Think and How Do You?

Do you take time to step back and take a good look at the basis for your decisions? Jerome Groopman, hematologist at Harvard University took an in-depth look at doctors' decision-making and concentrated on what leads to mistakes. Groopman's findings not only teach us how to approach our doctors with a little more savvy, but also prod us to think deeply about decision-making.

You'd be surprised to know that 80% of medical mistakes are the result of logical fallacies, not being aware of all possibilities and communication with the patient. And, 20% result from technical errors such as wrong test results.

Harvard hematologist, Jerome Groopman's curiosity was piqued about doctors' thinking processes when a friend's eight-year-old daughter was misdiagnosed by neurologists and pediatricians. The young girl began to suffer with headaches. Doctors thought stress at home or a sinus condition caused the headaches. But a few months later it was apparent the girl had a brain tumor. Why did doctors draw conclusions and overlook a possibility?

Curiosity led Groopman, also a staff writer for the New Yorker, to research what causes doctors' thinking mistakes...And, you'll find answers to his query in, How Doctors Think, published in March. The book's an engaging and fascinating read that can help doctors improve diagnosis procedures or for patients as they interact with doctors. What's the basis for your critical decisions?

Groopman finds that most errors result from...

Stereotyping - A nervous young woman loses weight. Does that mean she's anorexic?

Cases Seem Similar - A doctor may diagnose a fever and headache as flu during flu season. But could it be meningitis?

Acting Too Quickly - At times doctors choose to do something rather than nothing when in doubt.

Emotions - Groopman found that emotions come into play more than doctors might admit. For instance, if a doctor is fond of a patient he may overlook a deadly disease because he doesn't want it to be true. And on the other hand if patients sense a doctor doesn't like them, they need to go to someone else.

By asking, What else could it be? both doctors and patients can begin to look deeper at problems and make better decisions.

How do you make critical decisions both at a physician's office or...at work?....