Diagnosis is at the heart of what doctors do. In medical school, we're taught the basics.

We refine it during residency. But good doctors are constantly honing their ability to identify

illness.

Thinking is our most important procedure, right? So just like we teach other procedures

in medicine, like how to take out an appendix or how to deliver a baby or how to do an

examination of the eyes, thinking has a series of steps and each one of them can be isolated

and practiced and critiqued.

That's my friend, Dr. Grapri Daliwal. He's a professor at the University of California,

San Francisco, and a physician at the San Francisco VA Hospital. Most of Grapri's time

is spent teaching and seeing patients, but he has another job too.

My side hustle is that I study how doctors think and how their mind comes to diagnosis.

How do doctors think? Pretty well, I'm biased. I think we do it all right, but there's room

to improve.

Grapri has been improving his own diagnostic skills for a long time. He's pretty good at

it.

And in episodes five and ten of Frekenomics MD, we put him to the test.

My final diagnosis is that when he's outside enjoying the sun and the fresh air from time

to time, he may come across a mosquito, and if that's the case, he is at risk for getting

West Nile virus.

We wanted to bring Grapri back for another go round, so that he could show off his skills,

but also so that we could try to stump him.

From the Frekenomics Radio Network, this is Frekenomics MD. I'm Bob Ujena. Today on

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