When you are undiagnosed and it feels like no one is able to figure it out, one thing a patient can do is educate and research conditions it could be. With this education and research, the patient will feel more involved, empowered and in control of their care. They can present any findings that sound similar to what they are dealing with to their physician and the physician can take it from there. 

This is not to say anyone should be self-diagnosing, but rather helping their physician by giving them ideas of where to maybe look and test based on the research and current symptoms you are experiencing.

This can feel overwhelming and daunting though as the majority of us have not gone to medical school and may not know where to even start. 

One place we recommend is watching medical TV shows! This is an easy and passive way to start learning everything from the basics of medicine to extremely uncommon conditions and everything in between. You can become familiar with types of tests doctor’s typically run to rule diagnoses in and out, familiar with how hospitals are typically run and work and so much more! 

Since these shows are shows, the conditions featured tend to be rare or extreme to give it a drama factor. This can be really helpful if you are still in search of a diagnosis because you may have a rare disease and through watching these shows you may just get exposed to it, something similar, or like this woman in Israel, it may cause you to get a second opinion on what you were previously told and have it save your life.

Some of the topics and aspects of these shows we think are helpful to those that are undiagnosed include being able to learn about the following:

• RARE DISEASES: As stated previously, many of these shows feature rare conditions, this can be so helpful in exposing you to the types of rare diseases and giving you ideas of where to further your research should you watch a case that presents similarly to yours. 
• UNCOMMON CASES OR PRESENTATIONS: Like in the case linked above, sometimes the shows show more common conditions that come in presenting in an unexpected way. This can help you if you, like the woman from Israel, are told one thing then see your abnormal case play out into something different causing you to get a second opinion. 
• HOSPITAL FUNCTION: Watching these shows can also show you the function of how a hospital works and runs, which will help you as an undiagnosed or chronically ill patient learn to best navigate the medical system. This can be more helpful than you know!
• SPECIALTIES: Learning about and being exposed to the extent of different specialties is important because it will give you a better understanding of what types of doctor you may need to see or who would be able to best treat you.
• TESTING: These shows run through A LOT of tests to help diagnose their patients. Knowing and learning about these types of tests can help familiarize you with them so you know what to request, what to expect if ordered to do a certain type of test and what to look for in the results. 
• MEDICATIONS: Learning about types of medications or at least their classes is something you will come to be familiar with as well from watching these types of shows. This can help you in requesting a certain type of medication or just knowing what to expect if that’s what your physician has prescribed. 
• DIAGNOSES: Watching these shows you will be so exposed to a variety of diagnoses. Taking them in and having a bit of an understanding of them can prepare you even better on your quest for an answer as it may give you insight of diagnoses you think you can rule in and some that you could rule out. 
• BUREACRACY: Many of these shows also feature topics that involve navigating things like insurance, hospital policies, paperwork, hospital protocol and more. This can be vital to navigating the medical system and gives you insight when it comes to making decisions about paperwork or insurance in the future. 
• MEDICAL JARGON: We all know medical professionals use a lot of medical jargon. There are so many abbreviated terms also used it can be overwhelming and confusing for someone unfamiliar to them. Watching these types of shows, will expose you to these acronyms, abbreviations and jargon preparing you to be able to actually understand what is going on next time you go in. 

As you can see there is SO much knowledge to be gained from watching medical TV shows. That being said, these shows are shows and are totally overdramatized and often times can be medically inaccurate for the sake of entertainment. BUT you can still gain a lot of insight and education from them all the same.

The key here is taking what you hear, learn and see with a grain of salt. Treat it as a jumping off point. See a case that looks like yours with a diagnosis you haven’t been tested for? Research the condition. Hear medical jargon you often hear as a patient? Verify using the internet that that is what it means. There are so many passive ways to learn from these shows and active ways to continue to learn from them too. We just recommend that you do so carefully and verify the information you come across with a reliable and reputable source. 

Now sit back and find your next binge watch!