ORI – Study of interest

In 2016, Sandra Grace and colleagues published a qualitative study in Chiropractic & Manual Therapies which aimed to assess clinical reasoning in osteopathy from the perspective of clinical educators of osteopathic teaching institutions in Australia, New Zealand and the UK. This study drew on elements of constructivist grounded theory. Data was provided by focus groups and written critical reflections. The authors concluded that clinical reasoning in osteopathy uses an initial biomedical screening to rule out serious pathology, followed by osteopathic reasoning models based on structure–function relationships. The latter seems to differentiate diagnostic clinical reasoning in osteopathy from other health care professions and might, therein, benefit patient care and multidisciplinary decision-making. On the other hand, commonalities in clinical reasoning with health care professions might provide learning opportunities. This paper provided interesting insights on similarities and differences in clinical reasoning of osteopathy and other health care professions.