Abstract Background General practitioners (GPs) have recognized the presence of gut feelings in their diagnostic process. However, little is known about the frequency or determinants of gut feelings or the diagnostic value of gut feelings for cancer and other serious diseases. Objective To assess the prevalence of gut feelings in general practice, examine their determinants… read more

De Augeo magazine special voor de huisartsenzorg ‘Kindermishandeling; zo signaleer je en werk je samen’ staat online (link).

In the Netherlands, child abuse affects about 100.000 children resulting in at least 17 child fatalities a year. General practitioners’ (GPs) health care position is of vital importance for recognising and managing child abuse. In this Clinical Lesson, using three illustrating cases, we discuss how GPs’ suspicion of child abuse may arise including the role… read more

Abstract Background: Gut-feelings may be useful when dealing with uncertainty that is ubiquitous in primary care. Both patients and GPs experience this uncertainty but patients’ views on gut-feelings in the consultation have not been explored. Aim: To explore patients’ perceptions of gut-feelings in decision-making, and compare these perceptions to those of GPs. Design and setting:… read more

Abstract For the past decade, within family medicine there has been a focus on cultivating doctors gut feelings as ‘a way of knowing’ in cancer diagnostics. In this paper, building on interviews with family doctors in Oxford shire, UK we explore the embodied and temporal dimensions of clinical reasoning and how the cultivation of doctors’… read more

Background The use of gut feelings to guide clinical decision making in primary care has been frequently described but is not considered a legitimate reason for cancer referral. Aim To explore the role that gut feeling plays in clinical decision making in primary care. Design and setting Qualitative interview study with 19 GPs in Oxfordshire, UK. Method GPs who… read more

Background Growing evidence for the role of GPs’ gut feelings in cancer diagnosis raises questions about their origin and role in clinical practice. Aim To explore the origins of GPs’ gut feelings for cancer, their use, and their diagnostic utility. Design and setting Systematic review and meta-analysis of international research on GPs’ gut feelings in… read more

Clinical reasoning in general practice is increasingly challenging because of the rise in the number of patients with multimorbidity. This creates uncertainty because of unpredictable interactions between the symptoms from multiple medical problems and the patient’s personality, psychosocial context and life history. Case analysis may then be more appropriately managed by systems thinking than by… read more

Abstract Aim We examined how gut feelings of child health care physicians’ (CHCPs) contribute to the development of a suspicion of child abuse, how they act upon this suspicion and what barriers they experience in their management. To gain insight into the youth health care chain, we compared the diagnostic reasoning and management regarding this… read more