Eureka! Institutional Repository

Knowledge meaning has debated since the world was invented, but all the great scientists recognized the power of knowledge in the evolution of humanity. In organizational terms, knowledge is generally thought of as being “know how”, or “applied action”. The last point is an important one. Today’s organizations contain a vast amount of knowledge, and knowledge management is based on the idea that an organization’s most valuable resourse is the knowledge of its people. The focus in knowledge is being derived by the accelerated rate of change in society as a whole. The importance of knowledge management in health organizations is obvious. Two types of knowledge are identified in organizations: explicit that can be captured and written down in documents, and tacit which is the knowledge that people carry in their heads. According to Polanyi tacit knowledge lies in the subconscious and supports conscious acts. It is embedded in individual’s experience, values, beliefs and emotions.”We know more that we can tell” and the question is how the organizations can transfer this type of knowledge. Nonaka and Takeuchi built the S.E.C.I. model describing the four steps of knowledge transferring. In the complex environment of health organizations, tacit knowledge can be a source of innovation and competitive advantage in offering high quality services, so knowledge management strategies must became embedded in the way health organizations work. Medicine has been informed by scientific principles throughout history. Because of the success of modern medical science and the wide spread adoption of evidenced based medicine there was a prioritization of explicit-general knowledge over tacit and particular knowing. The practical problem of this in medicine is that it leads to a bias in clinical reality. The dimensional framework of medical knowledge based on Polanyi’s “Personal Knowledge”, allows us to recognize the different roles that medical knowledge can have and construct a new medical philosophy about the personalization of medical knowledge. The use of research evidence will remain part of this philosophy, however this must be tempered against science’s limitations. The importance of mentorship within health care training is well recognized. It enhance workforce performance and engagement, promote learning opportunities and encourage multidisciplinary collaboration.