The ability to accurately diagnose a patient’s illness or condition is dependent on the quality of information you can gather during an examination. You must pay close attention to what they’re telling you, as well as to other visual and aural clues that can point you in the right direction. Beyond that, though, is a key method that can more definitively clarify what’s behind more ambiguous symptoms.
Diagnostic images offer a non-invasive solution to correctly interpreting what’s going on with a patient. They provide proof of whatever illness or condition a patient is suffering from in the form of X-rays, MRIs, EKGs and CT scans. As well as diagnose, they also help inform you how to precisely treat, manage and monitor disease.
But diagnostic images can be tricky to decipher, especially for new medical students. Abnormalities can be extremely difficult to spot; they're often slight and don't always stand out from the fuzzy masses.
AMBOSS has just the trick to help train your clinical eye. Image Overlays are just the thing to help you pick up on the subtleties between what’s normal and what’s not. Whenever you run into a diagnostic image like an X-ray or MRI in the Qbank and Knowledge Library, you can, if available, click on the Image Overlay icon. By doing so, you’ll see the abnormalities you’re looking for highlighted in green, emphasizing what it is you should be looking for when diagnosing a patient. And with over 1,500 images, you’ll get all the practice you need to impress the Attending and ace your Step and Shelf exams.