Episode Details

In this episode, Dr. Daniel Motta-Calderon chats with Dr. Anuj Dalal, an academic hospitalist at Brigham and Women's Hospital, and Dr. Lindsey Wu, teaching hospitalist at the Durham VA Medical Center. The discussion begins with a case of a patient presenting with atypical chest pain at the time of admission. Dr. Wu shares her degree of certainty about the case, and she teaches us about the causes and consequences of not addressing diagnostic uncertainty in the hospital setting. We later learn about the patient's hospital course and find out that the patient experienced a delayed diagnosis. Dr. Dalal walks through the concept of diagnostic error and its relevance for patient safety. The conversation closes with ways to address diagnostic uncertainty and how to create a culture of diagnostic safety among trainees, in addition to some tips to become better diagnosticians.