Meeting: ASTRO's  2017 Annual Meeting
Date: September 24, 2017
Time: 1:45- 2:45 p.m.

Session description:
Medical error involves not only failure to carry out intended actions, but also errors in judgment, which are heavily influenced by our manner of thinking. The field of cognitive science seeks to better understand how we process information and make decisions. This session will serve to explore how rationally irrational we are, how heuristics and type 1 thinking tend to govern the day, how cognitive biases shape our decisions and what tools (like metacognition, cognitive debiasing) can be used to help mitigate the influence of these biases. We will, as part of this session, also review an incident video on cognitive bias especially created for this session, which can then be accessed at home to help teach one's own institution, and use practical examples commonly encountered in the Radiation Oncology clinic to illustrate these principles. Daylian Cain will be assisting with this presentation. Professor Cain's research focuses on "judgment and decision-making." In other words, he studies the reasons why smart people do dumb things. Notably, Cain's research has been discussed in the Wall Street Journal, Time Magazine, Forbes, The New Yorker, the Washington Post, BusinessWeek, USA Today, the New York Times and other top media outlets such as NPR. Cain has won national teaching awards and has also appeared as a commentator on National Geographic's popular TV show, Brain Games. Professor Cain's September 2017 schedule is not yet available, although he is aware of this session proposal and he has responded favorably provided there are no conflicts with other commitments.