Overview of Why you'll probably be misdiagnosed in your lifetime
This NPR Short Wave episode examines the “diagnosis crisis” in modern medicine: why misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, and missed diagnosis happen so often, how they affect patients, and what exceptional diagnosticians do differently. The episode centers on Diana Sejas, whose own cancer was dismissed for years before being found too late, and features reporting from Alexandra Sifferlin, author of The Elusive Body: Patients, Doctors, and the Diagnosis Crisis.
Key Takeaways
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Diagnostic error is far more common than many people realize.
The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine concluded that nearly every person will experience at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime. -
Misdiagnosis includes more than getting the “wrong” answer.
The episode defines diagnostic error broadly as:- an incorrect diagnosis
- a delayed diagnosis
- a missed diagnosis
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The healthcare system itself contributes to the problem.
Common issues include:- long waits to see specialists
- short appointment times
- fragmented records and handoffs between doctors
- limited time for doctors to think deeply or follow up
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Good diagnosis requires humility and feedback.
Strong diagnosticians treat diagnosis as a skill that can always improve and actively look back at cases to see what they may have missed.
Diana Sejas’s Story: A Misdiagnosis With Lasting Consequences
Diana Sejas, now a pediatric neurologist, noticed a hard lump under her jaw while she was a medical student. Despite her concerns, multiple doctors told her it was likely:
- a swollen lymph node
- an infection
- anxiety
What she feared was a tumor turned out to be exactly that—diagnosed years later, by which point it had:
- infiltrated lymph nodes
- wrapped around an artery
- caused major surgical complications
After surgery, she suffered a stroke, and she continues to live with lasting effects, including loss of feeling in her left arm.
Why her case matters
Her experience shows how easy it is for serious symptoms to be minimized, especially when patients don’t fit a doctor’s initial expectation.
What the Best Diagnosticians Do Differently
Alexandra Sifferlin highlights Dr. Gurpreet Dhaliwal of UC San Francisco as an example of a highly skilled diagnostician.
His approach includes:
- Humility: accepting that diagnosis is never “finished”
- Self-review: revisiting recent cases to check for errors
- Learning from misses: asking why a diagnosis was wrong when it was wrong
- Recognizing limits: understanding that doctors often do not get formal feedback on their decisions
A key insight from the episode is that doctors often don’t know whether they were right unless something later reveals the error.
Human Judgment vs. AI in Diagnosis
The episode also considers whether artificial intelligence can help solve the diagnosis crisis.
Main points on AI:
- AI may be useful in surfacing rare diagnoses or helping patients generate questions for their doctors.
- But AI is trained by humans, so it can inherit human biases.
- The hosts and guests agree that AI cannot replace the human relationship at the center of good medical care.
How Diana Sejas Now Practices Medicine
Diana says her own experience changed how she treats patients.
Her current approach emphasizes:
- trauma-informed care
- acknowledging when a patient has had a bad experience with the healthcare system
- adjusting communication to fit the patient’s needs
- involving family or support people when helpful
- slowing down enough to listen carefully
Her perspective reflects one of the episode’s core messages: patients need to feel heard, not just processed.
Bottom Line
This episode argues that misdiagnosis is not a rare failure but a widespread feature of modern healthcare. The solution is not just better technology or faster testing—it also requires:
- more time
- better listening
- stronger feedback loops
- humility from clinicians
- and a more human-centered approach to care
Related Credits and Context
- Show: Short Wave from NPR
- Guest: Diana Sejas, pediatric neurologist
- Guest/Author: Alexandra Sifferlin, editor at The New York Times and author of The Elusive Body
- Topic focus: diagnostic error, medical humility, patient advocacy, and the limits of AI in medicine