Adaptive Action: A Method and a Mechanism to Navigate Uncertainty in Health Professions Education

ABSTRACT Uncertainty is a precursor to learning. Learning in today's complex and rapidly changing world requires a simple and adaptive approach that works. One that is based in inquiry and has deep underlying theoretical roots. Adaptive Action is such an approach. It consists of three simple questions: What? So What? and Now What? It is what we do naturally when dealing with uncertainty. The education of future health professionals is used as an example and a context for the application of Adaptive Action. The CDE model is presented as the underlying theory of Adaptive Action. Adaptive Action, while presented in the context of the education and practice of health professionals, is a universal method to deal with uncertainty at multiple levels.