This episode aired on March 13, 2011 and is now available as a free download on our iTunes page!
In this episode, our crew investigates the importance of a patient’s history and physical exam in the diagnosis of illness.
Featured Guest: Dr. Lisa Sanders, author of the New York Times Diagnosis column that was the inspiration for the hit television series House and Assistant Clinical Professor of Medicine at Yale University. In addition, she is the clinical educator for the Primary Care Internal Medicine Residency program.
Dr. Sanders’ fascination with the “story of diagnosis” led her to write a book entitled Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis. The book investigates the mystery and intrigue of medical diagnoses and addresses the importance of the history and physical exam in those diagnoses.
Hosts Lakshman Swamy and Avash Kalra, and contributor Sam Roberto, discuss with Dr. Sanders the importance of the physical exam in this “story of diagnosis” and how this story helped her to create the Diagnosis column. In addition, Dr. Sanders recalls how the column came to be the inspiration for Fox’s series House and discusses the use of medical diagnosis as the basis for the show. Special Correspondent Dr. Matthew DiPaola also makes an appearance during the episode and provides his own perspective on the importance of diagnostic skills.
To read past Diagnosis articles written by Dr. Sanders, visit the NY Times website. To watch recent episodes of House, visit Fox’s website.
Again, remember that, as always, the free-to-download podcast of this episode (and all past episodes) can be found on our iTunes page!