Embracing Uncertainty

Abstract

We are constantly faced with uncertainty, which can instill a sense of vulnerability and fear. Prior studies link intolerance of uncertainty to burnout, ineffective communication strategies, cognitive biases and inappropriate resource use. Paradoxically, uncertainty is the driver of curiosity and progress, and is an important part of the practice of medicine. Indeed, the only certainty is in uncertainty. Unfortunately, we Western culture too often equates uncertainty with ignorance or failure, viewing it as a threat rather than a surmountable challenge, thus encouraging denial of this fundamental state for both physicians and patients. The time is ripe for a renewed perspective. Changing our culture to acknowledge, celebrate and embrace uncertainty could have positive downstream ramifications: decreasing physician burnout by reducing stress from uncertainty and altering our perspective on this state; and lightening physician’s burdens by absolving responsibility for implicitly having promised more than a physician or even medicine can deliver. Indeed, understanding and embracing uncertainty could be the most significant contribution of 21st century science to the human intellect. This review contains 29 references.