Introduction National organizations have identified a need for the creation of novel approaches to teach clinical reasoning throughout medical education. The aim of this project was to develop, implement and evaluate a novel clinical reasoning mapping exercise (CResME).

Methods Participants included a convenience sample of first and second year medical students at two US medical schools: University of Central Florida (UCF) and Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (USUHS). The authors describe the creation and implementation of the CResME. The CResME uses clinical information for multiple disease entities as nodes in different domains (history, physical exam, imaging, laboratory results, etc.), requiring learners to connect these nodes of information in an accurate and meaningful way to develop diagnostic and/or management plans in the process.

Results The majority of medical students at both institutions felt that the CResME promoted their understanding of the differential diagnosis and was a valuable tool to compare and contrast elements of a differential diagnosis. Students at both institutions recommended using the CResME for future sessions.

Discussion The CResME is a promising tool to foster students’ clinical reasoning early in medical school. Research is needed on the implementation of the CResME as an instructional and assessment strategy for clinical reasoning throughout medical school training.