Clinical judgement and individual patients: Invited Commentary on … In Defence of Professional Judgement

Summary Although in agreement with their conclusions about the importance of clinical judgement, this commentary criticises the way that Downie & Macnaughton defend it in their article. I argue that their defence is both overly limited in its account of the role of judgement and that it employs unnecessarily contentious arguments. I outline the ineliminable role that judgement plays in determining which general diagnostic concepts fit individual patients given their individuality and specificity.