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THE AMOUNT OF information
you must acquire as a medical student is truly astounding - and
it is something that no amount of pre-med training can truly
prepare you for. What perhaps can feel most overwhelming is not
only the knowledge, but the application of that knowledge to
real-life patients coming to you with real-life problems once you
begin the clinical phase of your education.
The Utmost
Importance of the Diagnosis
One of the most challenging parts of being a
clinician can be arriving at a diagnosis that is not only correct
but made in a timely manner. You learn quickly as a medical
student that this is a huge issue: diagnoses that are wrong or
come too late can come with a significant cost, both in terms of
patient health and of economics - and it is no surprise that
recent research found that 63% of those surveyed are either
"concerned" or "very concerned" about
mistaken diagnoses.1
Why is it so
important? According, to the authors of Improving
Diagnoses in Health Care,2 the
diagnosis is part process and part classification scheme, and it
is not only vital for patient care but, in the larger picture,
also helps to dictate research, allocation of resources,
payment/reimbursement, and general health care policy as well.
From the human point of view, of course, its importance to
patient care is paramount, and authors note that, "when a
diagnosis is accurate and made in a timely manner, a patient has
the best opportunity for a positive health outcome because
clinical decision-making will be tailored to the correct understanding
of the patient's health problems."
READ MORE of the article on the
VisualDx blog.
Brian Wu, PhD, is
currently a 4th year medical student at the Keck School of
Medicine at USC. He is the founder of Health Stories For
Kids, a media company that creates educational and entertaining
stories to teach patients and their families about health topics.
Brian is pursuing a psychiatry residency and is a loving husband
and father.
References
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SEPSIS: IT'S A
COMPLICATION that can be difficult to diagnose and that's
why the Centers for Disease Control an Prevention want patients to be proactive.
Sepsis is a clinical situation in which there is
evidence of bacteremia with an associated systemic response.
Common sepsis findings include chills, rigors, fever, tachypnea,
hypotension, skin lesions and shock. Diabetes, renal failure,
alcoholism, neutropenia and advanced age can predispose patients
to poor outcomes.
A 2011 CDC study shows sepsis on the
rise. To be proactive, the CDC wants to combat sepsis at the
patient level: making the general public aware of its symptoms
and having patients include sepsis in diagnostic discussions with
their doctors. As part of their awareness campaign, the CDC
has created a fact sheet for patients.
Sepsis can present itself in many ways. Customers
can view sepsis in VisualDx,
to review what look for, diagnostic pearls, best tests, and
therapy, plus see more than 60 images of the cutaneous signs of
sepsis shown in children and adults.
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AN
82-YEAR-OLD woman who loved to
volunteer at her local botanical garden noticed that this past
summer she had developed many areas of purple ecchymosis. She
told her primary care doctor that they seemed to appear mainly on
her arms and hands, where the sun was most often blazing down on
her, though she was diligent about using sunscreen these days.
The only change she could think of from previous summers, when
she hadn’t experienced such easy bruising, was that she had
started taking daily aspirin at her doctor’s suggestion.
Can you
diagnose the patient? Use the Differential
Builder in VisualDx to help you.
Look for
the answer on our Facebook page on Tuesday,
October 4. Follow us on Facebook for a new quiz every Monday!
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