OVERVIEW
Dr. Knopes' research focuses on physician socialization, epistemologies of biomedicine, and agnotology: the study of ignorance. Her work asks: if medical students and physicians cannot have absolute knowledge of biomedical science and practice, how do they learn to make choices about what information to know-- and what to ignore--to best resolve clinical problems? Dr. Knopes identifies this phenomenon as sufficient knowledge. Her ongoing work in the areas of medical education and clinical practice investigates the social contexts and ethical consequences of sufficient knowledge and medical ignorance.