What is Tacit Decision-Making

The “semi-professional” sector of the economy continues to grow and represents one of the largest areas in the economy and within higher education programs. Of these programs, the health professions are showing the largest growth. Decision-making, reflective thinking, critical thinking, and reflective practice have all been described as contributing to professional knowledge development in these professions (; ; ; ). Professional knowledge is a collective term encompassing the explicit and tacit knowledge needed for effective practice. The explicit knowledge in these fields has received extensive study, but implicit knowledge remains largely unexamined. In this chapter, the authors examine the nature of tacit knowledge for semi-professionals in the health field and how it shapes their work environment. Specifically, this chapter presents the results of a study of medical laboratory scientists, and provides Implications for professional development, theory, and further research.