The ‘curse of knowledge’: when medical expertise can sometimes be a liability

2024/04/29 by Narinder Kapur · 1 voice · 1 citation
Health Professions · Medicine · #Medical Malpractice and Liability Issues #Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills #Ethics in medical practice

paper · pdf · doi:10.1515/dx-2024-0064

openalex publication_date 2024/04/29 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30

Abstract

Medical expertise is associated with excellent patient care and good clinical decision making. While this generally remains true, there is an increasing body of evidence to suggest that in some cases medical expertise can be a liability, with errors more likely to occur in medical experts than in junior staff. Increased awareness of this ‘curse of knowledge’ may result in better patient safety.

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Discussions

• Kapur, N. (2024). The ‘curse of knowledge’: when medical expertise can sometimes be a liability. Diagnosis, 11(4), 455–456. https://doi.org/10.1515/dx-2024-0064. [bsky, 0 points, 1 comments]

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