Critical Thinking in the Clinical Setting

Program Details

Presenters: Kirk Bronander M.D., Professor, Medicine/Medical Director, Simulation & Lisa Calvo M.D., Associate Professor, Medicine/Residency Program, Associate Program Director
Provides 1.00 hour of CE/CME credit (Presented on February 13, 2026; Reviewed March 19, 2026; Expires March 19, 2028)
Online CME Credit: These courses are FREE with an active Community or Academic Clinical Faculty appointment at UNR Med. For questions or inquiries regarding this program series, please contact adamwilkinson@med.unr.edu.

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Overview

Kirk Bronander, M.D. and Lisa Calvo, M.D. will provide practical insights and strategies for strengthening clinical reasoning in medical learners. They will explore how critical thinking differs from factual recall and why it is essential for both learner development and patient safety, while also highlighting common cognitive biases that can interfere with sound clinical judgment. Participants will be introduced to structured clinical reasoning frameworks, such as problem representation and illness scripts, to help make thinking more explicit in the clinical setting. In addition, they will demonstrate how to apply the Microskills (One-Minute Preceptor) model to efficiently prompt, assess, and guide learners’ reasoning during busy clinical encounters.

This session topic is part of a clinical teaching professional development series presented by the Office of Faculty Affairs. To view all session topics in this series, please click on Office of Faculty Affairs Program Series. These courses are FREE with an active Community or Academic Clinical Faculty appointment at UNR Med. Please email Adam Wilkinson if you have any questions.

Learning Objectives

Following participation in this activity, participants should be able to:

  • Explain how critical thinking differs from factual recall in clinical teaching and why it is essential for learner development and patient safety
  • Recognize and name at least two common cognitive biases that interfere with clinical reasoning in learners and faculty
  • Use one structured clinical reasoning framework (e.g., problem representation or illness scripts) to analyze a brief clinical case and make reasoning explicit
  • Apply the key steps of the Microskills (One-Minute Preceptor) model to prompt, assess, and guide learners’ clinical reasoning in the clinical setting

Training Credit Requirements for Community or Academic Clinical FacultyCredit Requirements

To receive credit for meeting the training requirements associated with your Community Faculty appointment or the Academic Clinical Faculty Meaningful Participation Program, you must complete both of the following steps:

  1. Watch the entire training video.
  2. Claim CME/CE credit after completing the video.

⚠️ Important: Your participation will only be recorded if both steps are completed.

Note for non-clinicians: You may still claim credit and will receive a certificate of completion.