Joseph John Rencic MD

Professor, General Internal Medicine

Course Director, Integrated Problems and Clinical Reasoning

72 E. Concord Street | (617) 638-7468
Joseph Rencic
Sections

General Internal Medicine

Biography

Joseph J. Rencic, MD, received his BS at Georgetown University and his MD at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency in internal medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. He is a Professor of Medicine at Boston University and a hospitalist in the Division of General Internal Medicine.

Dr. Rencic’s research seeks to improve health professionals’ clinical reasoning and enhance their diagnostic accuracy and treatment decisions, with the ultimate goal of reducing medical errors and improving patient outcomes. He has developed and disseminated theory-based strategies for how to effectively teach and evaluate clinical reasoning through curricula, assessment methods, journal publications, and a book, “Teaching Clinical Reasoning.” His multiple peer-reviewed publications in clinical reasoning have challenged existing constructs, proposed a new conceptual framework, provided a seminal reference for its assessment, highlighted the inadequacy of clinical reasoning curricula in U.S. medical schools, and developed the first set of interprofessional competencies in diagnosis.

In addition to his research, Dr. Rencic is the Director of Clinical Reasoning Education, the co-course Director of Doctoring 2, and a member of the Academy of Medical Educators at the Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine. He also serves as Acting Internship Director for the fourth-year internal medicine rotation at Boston Medical Center. These positions align with his strong professional interests in medical education, curriculum design, assessment, competency, and mentoring.

Dr. Rencic has been actively involved in the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine, serving as councilor for the Clerkship Director of Internal Medicine, as well as the Society for Improved Diagnosis in Medicine.

Along with two colleagues, he received the 2017 Clerkship Directors of Internal Medicine Louis N Pangaro, MD, Educational Program Development Award, which was given for his innovative work in teaching clinical reasoning to medical students. He also received the 2010 Medical Educator Award from the New England region of the Society of General Internal Medicine, which is awarded to an outstanding generalist clinician-educator.

Other Positions

Education

Medicine, MD, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine

BS, Georgetown University

Publications

Published on 12/6/2023

Majety P, Daaboul Y, Rencic J. Learning Theories Versus Practice: How Do Internal Medicine Residents Study for Licensing Examinations? Cureus. 2023 Dec; 15(12):e50052. PMID: 38186475.

Published on 7/28/2023

Dreicer JJ, Parsons AS, Joudi T, Stern S, Olson APJ, Rencic JJ. Framework and Schema are False Synonyms: Defining Terms to Improve Learning. Perspect Med Educ. 2023; 12(1):294-303. PMID: 37520506.

Published on 12/8/2022

Goldowsky A, Rencic J. Self-regulated learning and the future of diagnostic reasoning education. Diagnosis (Berl). 2023 Feb 01; 10(1):24-30. PMID: 36476651.

Published on 6/21/2022

Wijesekera TP, Parsons AS, Abdoler EA, Trowbridge RL, Durning SJ, Rencic JJ. Management Reasoning: A Toolbox for Educators. Acad Med. 2022 Nov 01; 97(11):1724. PMID: 35731592.

Published on 5/28/2022

Dreicer JJ, Parsons AS, Rencic J. The Diagnostic Medical Interview. Med Clin North Am. 2022 Jul; 106(4):601-614. PMID: 35725227.

Published on 4/25/2022

Olson APJ, Zwaan L, Rencic J. The Oral Case Presentation. J Gen Intern Med. 2023 Mar; 38(4):1076. PMID: 35469361.

Published on 4/6/2022

Abdulnour RE, Parsons AS, Muller D, Drazen J, Rubin EJ, Rencic J. Deliberate Practice at the Virtual Bedside to Improve Clinical Reasoning. N Engl J Med. 2022 05 19; 386(20):1946-1947. PMID: 35385627.

Published on 4/1/2022

Parsons AS, Clancy CB, Rencic JJ, Warburton KM. Targeted Strategies to Remediate Diagnostic Reasoning Deficits. Acad Med. 2022 Apr 01; 97(4):616. PMID: 34261865.

Published on 3/7/2022

Gordon D, Rencic JJ, Lang VJ, Thomas A, Young M, Durning SJ. Advancing the assessment of clinical reasoning across the health professions: Definitional and methodologic recommendations. Perspect Med Educ. 2022 Mar; 11(2):108-114. PMID: 35254653.

Published on 10/20/2020

Trowbridge RL, Rencic JJ, Wijesekera TP, Olson APJ. Avoiding Cognitive Errors in Clinical Decision Making. Ann Intern Med. 2020 10 20; 173(8):678-679. PMID: 33075248.

View full list of 59 publications.