Making a diagnosis is a doctor's most challenging and crucial task. Most of the time, a physical examination and routine tests provide what's needed to begin a course of treatment. But sometimes the symptoms are deceptive, tests are misleading, and obvious treatment options prove woefully inadequate. In Diagnosis Dr. Lisa Sanders tells the true stories of doctors facing complex medical mysteries to illustrate the art and science of diagnosis. A healthy young man complains of memory loss so severe that he can't remember the events of the last hour. A young woman lies dying in ICU and no one knows what is killing her. What does a doctor do when the patient profile says one thing and the tests say another? As Sanders describes the process of solving these and other diagnostic dilemmas, she provides a firsthand view of the combination of expertise and intuition that results in accurate diagnosis, while portraying how knowing medicine is essential but not sufficient to unravel the complexities of illness.
