Deliberate Practice and Acquisition of Expert Performance: A General Overview

Author: Anders Ericsson, K.

Source: Academic Emergency Medicine, Volume 15, Number 11, November 2008 , pp. 988-994(7)

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Abstract:

Traditionally, professional expertise has been judged by length of experience, reputation, and perceived mastery of knowledge and skill. Unfortunately, recent research demonstrates only a weak relationship between these indicators of expertise and actual, observed performance. In fact, observed performance does not necessarily correlate with greater professional experience. Expert performance can, however, be traced to active engagement in deliberate practice (DP), where training (often designed and arranged by their teachers and coaches) is focused on improving particular tasks. DP also involves the provision of immediate feedback, time for problem-solving and evaluation, and opportunities for repeated performance to refine behavior. In this article, we draw upon the principles of DP established in other domains, such as chess, music, typing, and sports to provide insight into developing expert performance in medicine. ACADEMIC EMERGENCY MEDICINE 2008; 15:988-994 © 2008 by the Society for Academic Emergency Medicine

Document Type: Research article

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1553-2712.2008.00227.x

Publication date: 2008-11-01