Ways of Knowing and Seeking Medical Knowledge
| Inner Reality | Outer Reality | |
|---|---|---|
| Individual | Quadrant 1 | Quadrant 4 |
| Type of knowledge | “I” knowledge | “It” knowledge |
| Why | Understanding the clinician is essential to family practice, since in part “the doctor is the drug” | Understanding that natural phenomena and interventions to affect them comprise the biological basis of medical practices |
| What | Knowledge of the clinician | Disease-specific knowledge of clinical phenomena |
| How | Self-reflection, journaling | Observation, epidemiology, experimentation |
| Who | Reflective clinicians | Detached observers |
| Where | Practice | People or parts of people |
| Collective | Quadrant 2 | Quadrant 3 |
| Type of knowledge | “We” knowledge | “It” knowledge |
| Why | The voices of patients, families, and communities are central to the goals and effectiveness of family practice | Family practice operates within a systems context, which must be understood to enhance its effectiveness |
| What | Knowledge of the patient in context | Systems knowledge |
| How | Participatory research | Health services research |
| Who | Participant observers | Health services researchers |
| Where | Community or practice | Health care system |