The importance of intuition in the occupational medicine clinical consultation

Clinical consultation involves unspoken elements which flow between doctor and patient. They are vital ingredients of successful patient management bu t are not easily measured, objective or evidence-based. These elements incl ude empathy and intuition for what the patient is experiencing and trying t o express, or indeed suppressing. Time is needed to explore the instinctive feeling for what is important, particularly in present day society which i ncreasingly recognizes the worth of psychosocial factors. This time should be available in the occupational health consultation. In this paper the imp ortance of intuition and its essential value in the clinical interview are traced through history. Differences between intuition and empathy are explo red and the use of intuition as a clinical tool is examined.