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When trying to diagnose a patient, what are the step taken to actually diagnose and give the right diagnosis of the patient?

I always feel like it's difficult for a physician to diagnose a patient, because, for me, I feel that there are many steps that must be taken to properly diagnose a patient and to give or recommend them for the proper treatment #doctor #medicine #nurse #pre-med #registered-nurses #doctorate-degree

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Jack’s Answer

Diagnosing any condition in a patient is a combination of putting together the signs and symptoms that is being exhibited by the patient. As a dentist I use radioigraphs along with clinical findings, patient history and my experience to arrive at the treatment plan. In medicine you will use imaging and lab and test values along with clinical examination and patient history to find the right diagnosis. As you get more experienced it gets easier. Although I should mention occasionally you get the oddball situation and that leads to a referral to a specialist.
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Martin’s Answer

as a PT we use a good history, often asking questions about onset, a mechanism of action and past injury or activity that caused symptoms. then we can use observation of movement or pain, special tests and palpation. MD differ slightly as they diagnose disease or an illness based on symptoms, then have access to further tests such as a good physical exam like listening to lung sounds, observing nose/ears/throat then make requests labs such as swabs, blood tests, cultures to further determine a diagnosis. MD often use differential diagnosis approach or rule in/out methods based on symptoms that rule in/out different diagnosis.
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Estelle’s Answer

When doctors meet a patient, they take a "history" from the patient, meaning that they ask pertinent questions that focus on the problem at hand. The physical exam comes next. Based on the history and physical, they order lab tests and/or radiologic tests that might give more information. The next step is to develop a "differential diagnosis" in which the doctor lists all the possible diagnoses. From that point, they continue narrowing down the diagnosis. If treatment is not working, the doctor needs to keep an open mind to change the diagnosis and reconsider the earlier differential.
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Aiman’s Answer

after finishing medical school you will pass a proper training which makes you full of knowledge, still you need to obtain a proper history which is about 70-80% of your way to the right differential diagnosis, also good examination will help to approach differential diagnosis by 10-20%, other investigations like labs and imaging study are just a tool to point at which differential is closer to the patient symptoms
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Candace’s Answer

The first needed to diagnose a patient is proper training which includes, college, medical school and specialty training. Even with training it is necessary to develop a differential and take a systematic approach to making the diagnosis. Sometimes a diagnosis is straightforward but in many cases it's not. It takes work to make an accurate diagnosis.
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