ABSTRACT
Geometry, gist, jizz all depend on pattern recognition, which is one way in which doctors make diagnoses. Pattern recognition is based on knowledge, experience, and skill acquired over decades: it’s often exercised too rapidly for the clinician to be aware of it, let alone describe it to others. It is’s contrasted with hypothesis testing, the process that novices use predominantly, and that experts revert to occasionally when faced with an unusual problem. Psychosocial context plays a part in eliciting and maintaining what might be called pain behaviours. One way in which clustered features are appraised is by means of global, subjective impressions. Symptoms can be divided into two groups: ones that prompt a consultation and are volunteered by the patient can be called iatrotropic; and ones that are elicited in response to questions can be called non-iatrotropic. Rather than measurement of vital signs, it is their assessment that matters.
