Health.com :: The 4 Biggest Mistakes Doctors Make (with women)

Health.com :: The 4 Biggest Mistakes Doctors Make (with women): "Even the smartest doctors can misdiagnose patients when they think too quickly or too mechanically, says Harvard Medical School professor Jerome Groopman, MD, author of the sobering and candid How Doctors Think. Some research, he says, indicates that misdiagnosis happens in up to 20 percent of all cases—and up to half of those misdiagnoses have serious consequences.

“We want to do the best we can, and we’re terrified of making a misdiagnosis, but we’re not perfect,” Groopman says. Add to that the fact that many docs have heavy caseloads and get only minutes per patient, and you have a common recipe for medical mistakes.

What can you do to prevent a misdiagnosis and get the attention and treatment you need? First, learn the four common mental traps that doctors fall into—and then use these tricks to help your own doctor steer clear of them."