Importance and Application of Critical Thinking in Medical Sciences

“Thinking” as stressed by the Qur’an is considered to be a fruitful and necessary skill and at the same time is learnable. Critical thinking is a correct way of thinking about the problems in all fields, ranging from natural sciences to humanities, philosophy, and arts. Despite the manifold nature and various dimensions of critical thinking, in this way of thought, first data are searched and validated, and then a view comes up in the mind not vice versa.
Given the wide range of data in medical sciences and necessity of interpreting and applying them, a new approach emerged in this science and drew the attention of people in the world in the 1990s, namely, “medicine based on evidence”. This approach includes the following stages: posing question, looking for best valid evidence, criticizing the validity of the evidences, its use in clinical work, combining the data of the subject with the skill and clinical experience of a physician, and assessment of the fruitfulness and efficiency of the function. In Iran for the first time in 2011 a new educational program was formulated and implemented, according to which medical students first learned the concept of thinking and criticism, and in the later years learned “medicine based on evidence”.
Critical thinking is necessary in nursing. Since the nurses are in direct contact with the patients in 24 hours, so it is necessary to be right decision makers. A nurse should first collect the necessary information, and then proceed to classify the solution and follow the best one.
Given the positive effects of critical thinking in all aspects of individual and civil life, it seems necessary to make a serious attempt to teach and spread critical thinking.