The temptation is to check the AI before you think. The discipline is to think before you check.
Post-Hoc Uses (Recommended)
Verifying your management plan against NICE/CKS after forming it. Checking drug interactions in polypharmacy after deciding what to prescribe. Exploring differentials you have already generated to ensure completeness. Clarifying guideline recommendations when your recall is uncertain.
These uses support your clinical reasoning — you think, then verify. The thinking develops the skill. The verification catches errors.
Pre-Hoc Uses (Caution)
Generating a differential before you have thought — this short-circuits reasoning development. Looking up management before formulating your own plan — you learn less when the answer is given rather than generated. These uses are acceptable for unfamiliar presentations where you genuinely have no starting point — but should not be the default workflow.
Substitution Uses (Avoid)
Letting AI make the clinical decision. Copying AI-generated plans without critical evaluation. Using AI as a replacement for clinical supervision when you are uncertain and should escalate.
Available CDS Tools
Ask iatroX — guideline-grounded, citation-first, MHRA-registered. Designed for post-hoc verification. Heidi Evidence — in-consultation CDS within the Heidi platform. GPnotebook — reference lookup. AMBOSS — medical library with integrated teaching.
The Training Paradox
CDS makes you more efficient today but potentially less capable tomorrow. The challenge of figuring out a management plan from first principles is how you develop clinical reasoning. Removing that challenge removes the development stimulus. Use CDS to verify, not to avoid thinking.
Where iatroX Fits
Ask iatroX is designed for post-hoc verification — citation-first answers grounded in NICE/CKS/BNF that confirm or challenge your clinical reasoning. It supports your thinking rather than replacing it.