Diagnosis: A Guide for Medical Trainees

The process of clinical diagnosis—from establishing the patient–physician relationship to gathering evidence, to performing, evaluating, interpreting, and allocating diagnostic tests, to settling upon a working explanation for the patient’s condition and pursuing a treatment plan, all the while avoiding the pitfalls of both overdiagnosis and underdiagnosis—is, arguably, the cornerstone of all of modern medicine.
Via the discussion of actual case studies, this book shows that the process of clinical diagnosis, even in what might be considered to be ordinary or routine cases, is complex, fascinating, multifaceted, and involves considerations of logic, evidence, ethics, probability, and economics. Thus, the process of clinical diagnosis is about far more than just basic science. Here, as in all areas of medical practice, ethics is inextricably intertwined with evidence: Becoming a good diagnostician requires not only an understanding of probability theory and statistical analysis but also learning to listen to your patients, learning how to interpret the results of diagnostic tests by taking into account clinical considerations, learning how to manage and communicate diagnostic uncertainty in the clinical setting, understanding the potential reasons to conduct diagnostic tests or not, and being concerned with issues of diagnostic justice, while keeping in mind the concerns of the actual patient who is in front of you.

Platform:

OvidSP

Publisher:

Oxford University Press

Product Type:

Book

Author:

Kennedy, Ashley Graham

ISBN:

978-0-19-006041-1

Specialty:

• General Medicine
• Medical Law
• Ethics & Other Humanities
• Pathology
• Primary Care/Family Medicine/General Practice

Language:

English

Edition:

1st Ed.

Pages:

0

Publication Year:

2021