Some insights from cognitive science that can be applied to professional education, particularly those relating to sources of dissonance in the traditional, linear educational model, are examined. They concern primarily the availability of information for clinical thinking and problem solving. Curricular structures facilitating implementation of…

Research on the cognitive processes used by physicians during patient care (template matching, deductive logic starting with multiple hypotheses, and algorithmic logic) is examined for its applicability to optometrists and the problem-solving strategies used by optometric students in the classroom or clinic. (Author/MSE)