Strategies for Promoting Critical and Creative Thinking in Medical Education

Critical and Creative Thinking in Health Professions Education Student’s Name Institution Course Number and Name Instructor’s Name Date Critical and Creative Thinking in Health Professions Education Medical and health professions education plays an instrumental role in preparing future personnel and leaders in the healthcare sector. Given the significance of the sector in promoting public health, medical and health professions education must be designed to promote effective learning. The incorporation of critical and creative thinking into the health professions educational curriculum is integral to ensuring that students are prepared to address existing and new challenges in the 21st-century healthcare environment. This chapter explores the meaning of critical and creative thinking in medical and health professions education, highlights their importance for medical and health science students, and discusses strategies for promoting these skills. Meaning of Critical and Creative Thinking in Medical Education Critical thinking is the ability to identify and assess issues and examine relevant pieces of information to reach a befitting conclusion (Kaur & Mahajan, 2023). As noted by Zayapragassarazan et al. (2016), critical thinking is characterized by the ability to look for and identify flaws in arguments and reject claims devoid of supporting evidence. In medical education, critical thinking helps students examine their learning needs and understand their perspectives, which is important in bolstering their clinical decision-making and problem-solving abilities (Kaur & Mahajan, 2023). Given that critical thinking can help students determine their learning needs, it plays a role in promoting self-directed learning. Critical thinking in medical education can be humanist, biomedical, or social justice-oriented (Kahlke & Eva, 2018). Humanist critical thinking is oriented toward social good, and seeks to promote positive relationships among human beings. This is contrasted with biomedical critical thinking, which is almost synonymous with critical reasoning (Kahlke & Eva, 2018). From this perspective, critical thinking emphasizes logic and rationality with emotions being regarded as a hindrance. Finally, there is social justice-oriented thinking, which examines the biases and assumptions present in the world (Kahlke & Eva, 2018). In this case, an understanding of the social system is important for one to think critically. The three perspectives of critical thinking correspond to the humanist, technical, and emancipatory critical thinking as written by (Kahlke & White, 2013) [Figure 1] Figure 1: Critical Thinking Perspectives. Source: Kahlke and White (2013). Understanding these conceptions of critical thinking is integral for one to negotiate the practices and values of different communities present in the healthcare environment. Creative thinking refers to the ability to see existing problems from new perspectives. In medical education, creative thinking propels students to employ new approaches to resolve thought-process conflicts (Yelavarthi, 2022). Creative thinking is marked by key aspects including cognizance of new ideas and cognitive flexibility (Munir & Awan, 2022). Given the complexity of the modern healthcare environment, creative thinking is a necessary component of health professions education. Importance of Critical and Creative Thinking for Medical Students Critical Thinking Critical thinking skills are necessary for medical students to navigate the challenges of the modern healthcare environment. According to Shakurnia et al. (2021), critical thinking among healthcare professionals is associated with improved patient and health outcomes. This is because critical thinking helps health professionals avoid clinical/medical errors and identify better diagnoses and treatment options for patients (Zayapragassarazan et al. 2016). It is important to recognize that clinical/medical errors are a major problem in the healthcare sector all over the world. Every year, 100,000 patients die while 400,000 of hospitalized patients are injured (Heydarikhayat et al., 2024). Given that creative thinking is associated with reduced medical errors that result in the loss of many human lives, its value in health professions education is immense. Cultivating critical thinking among medical students has the potential to transform the delivery of healthcare. Critical thinking is also associated with increased productivity and improved understanding of different subjects (Zayapragassarazan et al. 2016). Productivity in the healthcare sector is important in ensuring resources are utilized effectively. Improved productivity in the healthcare sector means that healthcare professionals are able to attend better to the needs of patients and the healthcare organization. With improved productivity, the ability of the healthcare organization to manage resources better increases, which can consequently lead to a reduction in healthcare costs. In the educational setting, critical thinking allows medical students to have an improved understanding of different subjects that characterize their learning. In essence, critical thinking enhances the ability of students to gather valuable knowledge and skills, which can transform the healthcare system for the better. As emphasized by Kaur and Mahajan (2023), through critical thinking, medical students can be self-directed learners, meaning that they can take it upon themselves to become better clinical decision-makers. The students can develop problem-solving ability, which is a valuable skill for a medical practitioner (Kaur & Mahajan, 2023). Critical thinking, therefore, has immense value in helping students understand better the medical subjects they study. Critical thinking also helps medical students develop confidence and succeed in their careers (Zayapragassarazan et al., 2016). It is the goal of every medical student to have a successful career in the healthcare sector. In this sense, confidence is a value that is important for success in any field. Through critical thinking, students develop confidence not only in their work but also in assessing the work of other people. Given that critical thinking helps one understand better different subjects, it is deducible that a person with critical thinking skills is confident of their ability to argue and provide evidence to validate their claims. Even in patient care, such a person is confident in their abilities to provide the best possible care to patients. They not only make correct assessments of patients but they also carry out procedures accurately. It is important to remember that critical thinking is linked to reduced clinical/medical errors (Zayapragassarazan et al., 2016). The confidence one gains as a result of learning critical thinking skills is valuable to the healthcare sector and can help one have a successful career. Creative Thinking Medical students require creative thinking skills to address the complex healthcare environment today and in the future. Creative thinking is instrumental in helping healthcare professionals address the challenges present in the healthcare sector. Through creativity, doctors can handle complex problems they encounter in practice. When it comes to patients with complex issues, they have to provide personalized and workable solutions that require multidimensional thinking (Ten Haven et al., 2022). In such situations, doctors have to deviate from normal protocols and think outside the box to develop solutions that meet the needs of patients in a particular context. In this sense, through creative thinking, medical professionals can find applicable evidence to address the contextual needs of customers. Creative thinking thus equips medical students with important skills and abilities to address challenges in the healthcare sector. Creative thinking is also important for medical students as it promotes adaptability and flexibility, which are valuable in the provision of care. The healthcare enviro...