Errors in diagnosis
Six common errors in the diagnostic process are:
1. Fixation on a hypothesis 2. Stop looking 3. Rule-out syndrome 4. Making very unlikely hypotheses 5. Retaining unsustainable hypotheses 6. Making unsupportable hypotheses
Keep asking 'Does a particular hypothesis remains credible in the given circumstances?' and 'What else could it be?'. If in doubt, discuss the case with colleagues.
ref: B Joorabchi quoted by Robin C Fraser in Clinical Method: a general practice approach 2e 1992 Butterworth Heinemann
Related pages
Create an account to add page annotations
Annotations allow you to add information to this page that would be handy to have on hand during a consultation. E.g. a website or number. This information will always show when you visit this page.