Decision Making Skills for Medicos
“Yes” or “No”: The Guide to Better Decisions
(Amazon Link) by Spencer Johnson advocates the use of critical decision making. The book is hampered by an eighties approach to self-development, with a cloying parable format. However, the ideas in it encouraged me to think over my decision making techniques, particularly in the context of medical decision making.
The Essence of Yes and No
Dr Johnson’s advice was to spend more time making important decisions, and employ critical thinking skills.
A summary of the technique would be:
- Select a problem and even decide on a outcome to pursue
- Answer the following questions:
- What is the outcome I need (rather than want)
- What background or research information do I need?
- Do I have, or can I create options in this decision?
- Am I being honest with myself about my gut feelings, or prejudices?
- What would I decide if I wasn’t afraid?
- What would I do if I was arrogant? (i.e. what would I do if I deserved everything the world was offering)
- If Yes, proceed, if No, make a different decision
For more information about this decision making process, then I encourage you to search out a copy to read.
More resources for decision making
Decision making is a topic I was never taught in Medical School (or not formally). But we make decisions every day, and we often make mistakes. One solution has been to implement electronic health records to supplement decision making. However, it is surely useful to work on our own decision making skills as well.
There are lots of opinions on the psychology of decisions. Wikipedia has some thoughts on responsible decision making, the use of collaborative analysis and decision theory. One of the more interesting articles is on using Analytic Hierarchy for complex decisions. Mind Tools also has some useful algorithms to work through.
What have you been taught or learnt about medical decision making? What tools do you use to make good choices? Please share your ideas and links in the comments below.
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