3.9 Complex Problem Solving
Find solutions to real-world problems
Complex Problem Solving is the skill of applying a method to a problem, often not seen before, to obtain a satisfactory solution. It requires a creative combination of knowledge and strategies to arrive at an answer. Rapid technological change, the increasingly global exchange of ideas, and the proliferation of easy-to-access information – some of which is decidedly unreliable – all contribute greater complexity to the problems that they will need to solve.
Excelling in Complex Problem Solving as a Job Skill means:
You are:
- Engaged in ‘big picture’ thinking
- Flexible & adaptable to change
- Creative
- Highly detail-oriented
- Someone who sees patterns
- Someone who works efficiently
Others see you:
- Demonstrate self-reliance
- Achieve your dreams and ambitions
- Are capable of higher-order thinking (not just memorizing facts, but demonstrating the ability to deeply understand, apply, analyze, and evaluate information)
- Achieve increased status & responsibility at school or work
- Create solutions that balance the facts, but with new insight
Complex Problem Solving and Pre-Health Science
In PHS you will have many opportunities to develop the Job Skill of Complex Problem Solving. Below are just two examples of times you will work on this in the PHS program:
- The cocurricular delivery of the program means the concepts in learned in one class will be used and applied in other courses.
- Biomedical applications are used throughout the program using ‘systems-based’ problems and/or ‘clinical problems’ from different perspectives in different courses. A cumulative approach is used in problem solving assignments in second term.
A Medical Radiation Technologist (MRT) is required to be quick thinking in rapidly changing emergency situations by analyzing the patient’s anatomy and abilities, the equipment’s capabilities, and the best imaging techniques to obtain clear and accurate images for the medical team.
Caleb Scott, MSc, MRT(R)
“4.9 Complex Problem Solving” from Working in Play: Planning for a Career in the Recreation and Leisure Industry in Canada by Linda Whitehead is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
