Professional Knowledge in Medical Practice

Both knowledge and learning can be examined from two perspectives, the individual and the social. These can be considered as analogous to the particle and wave theories of light. An individual perspective on knowledge and learning enables us to explore both differences in what and how people learn and differences in how they interpret what they learn. A social perspective draws attention to the social construction of knowledge and of contexts for learning, and to the wide range of cultural practices and products that provide knowledge resources for learning. This situation is further complicated by disputes about what counts as knowledge. There are now three distinct definitions of knowledge in common use, each of them in a state of constant evolution.