#6 Intuition in pharmacovigilance – Eugene van Puijenbroek

In the age of evidence-based medicine, we may be tempted to
dismiss intuition – the quick and automatic thought process we
call “sixth sense” or “gut feeling” – as unscientific guesswork.
But in clinical decision-making, intuitive reasoning is just as
important as the slower and more analytical causal reasoning that
healthcare professionals are trained in. In fact, without it we
would hardly be able to formulate new hypotheses.


Together with Eugene van Puijenbroek from the Netherlands
pharmacovigilance centre Lareb, we explore the role of intuitive
reasoning in the science of drug safety.

Tune in to find out:


How clinical and intuitive reasoning complement each other
for optimal decision-making

How adverse drug reaction reporting forms could be improved
to detect intuitive reasoning

How pharmacovigilance professionals can train their intuition



Want to know more?


Here are a few reading resources to get you started:


A study on real cases of intuition in family medicine
concluded that automatic, non-analytical processes in clinical
judgment extend beyond first impressions.

The dual-process theory highlights the importance of
physicians’ intuition and the high level of interaction between
analytical and non-analytical processes in clinical reasoning.

Gut feelings may help general practitioners efficiently
navigate the often complex and uncertain diagnostic situations of
general practice.

In a discussion paper on intuition and evidence, professor
Trisha Greenhalgh suggests that the experienced practitioner
should follow clinical hunches as well as applying the deductive
principles of evidence-based medicine.



If you’d like to hear more from the Netherlands pharmacovigilance
centre Lareb, check out this interview with Linda Härmark on
patient reporting.





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