Sep 15, 2026 · 13 min
Why doctors miss diagnoses—and how they can improve
Why you'll probably be misdiagnosed in your lifetime
Diagnostic errors can reshape patients’ lives, but better listening, case review, accountability, and trauma-informed care offer ways to make medicine safer.
- 1Fragmented care, short appointments, and limited follow-up make missed and delayed diagnoses difficult to prevent.
- 2Master diagnosticians cultivate humility and review cases deliberately because clinicians rarely receive clear feedback on their decisions.
- 3Patient stories, trauma-informed care, and carefully used AI can strengthen diagnosis without replacing clinical judgment.
Don't miss
Diana M. Cejas recounts how a neck tumor repeatedly dismissed as anxiety was diagnosed only after causing a life-threatening complication and stroke.
The brief
As a medical student, Diana M. Cejas watched a growing neck lump get dismissed as anxiety or a swollen lymph node. The tumor was found only after it had infiltrated surrounding tissue, causing a life-threatening complication and stroke.
Alexandra Sifferlin places that story in a wider diagnostic crisis: fragmented healthcare, limited appointment time, and weak continuity make incorrect, missed, and delayed diagnoses common.
Gurpreet Dhaliwal’s approach offers a counterexample. Master diagnosticians stay humble, review cases deliberately, and seek feedback that ordinary clinical practice rarely provides.
Diagnosis depends on history, examination, pattern recognition, and deep listening—but also on confronting cognitive bias and deciding where AI can assist without replacing clinical judgment.
Cejas’s experience now shapes her work as a pediatric neurologist, where trauma-informed care acknowledges that medical harm can persist long after the original diagnostic mistake.
Alexandra SifferlinMentioned
The Elusive Body, Patients, Doctors, and the Diagnosis Crisis
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and MedicineBooks & mentions
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