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Curriculum

The five tiers

Work through the tiers in order to build knowledge progressively - from the language of the chart, through the drugs and procedures, to the rare pathology and the diagnostic method itself.

01

Clinical Foundations & Diagnostic Equipment

The language of the chart

Before any diagnosis, there is data. This tier builds the baseline: how the body reports itself through vital signs, monitors, blood panels, urine, and the imaging machines that let you see inside. Every later tier leans on these readings.

0/6
  1. 01

    Vital Signs & the Baseline

    Temperature, pulse, respiration, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation - the four-plus-one numbers every workup starts from.

    8m
  2. 02

    Telemetry & Cardiac Monitoring

    Continuous ECG monitoring, rhythm strips, and the alarms that shape a hospital floor.

    7m
  3. 03

    The Complete Blood Count (CBC)

    Red cells, white cells, and platelets - the census of the blood and what shifts in it mean.

    9m
  4. 04

    The Basic Metabolic Panel (BMP) & Electrolytes

    Sodium, potassium, glucose, and the kidney's report card - chemistry that drives physiology.

    9m
  5. 05

    Urinalysis & Urine Studies

    The kidney's filtrate as a window into metabolism, infection, and systemic disease.

    7m
  6. 06

    Imaging Modalities: X-ray, CT, MRI, PET

    From plain films to molecular imaging - how each modality sees the body differently.

    12m
02

Pharmacology & Mechanisms of Action

What the drugs actually do

Medication is the team's most common intervention and its most common misstep. This tier explains the biochemistry behind the drugs the show reaches for most - how they bind, what they block, and why the wrong drug for the wrong disease is worse than no drug at all.

0/6
  1. 01

    GABA-A Modulation & Benzodiazepines

    How Ativan and its cousins calm the nervous system by tuning the brain's main brake.

    10m
  2. 02

    Broad-Spectrum Antibiotics

    Covering the field while the culture cooks - empiric therapy and its limits.

    9m
  3. 03

    Corticosteroids

    The body's own anti-inflammatory switch, and why turning it up has costs.

    9m
  4. 04

    Immunosuppressants

    Calming an overactive immune system when it attacks the body itself.

    8m
  5. 05

    Beta-Blockers

    Blocking the stress receptors on the heart to slow it, steady it, and protect it.

    8m
  6. 06

    Thrombolytics

    Clot-busting drugs for stroke, heart attack, and pulmonary embolism - and the bleeding risk they carry.

    8m
03

Procedures & Invasives

Getting answers from inside

When labs and scans run dry, the team goes in. This tier covers the invasive procedures that sample, drain, replace, and support - the interventions that both diagnose and treat, and that carry real risk requiring consent and skill.

0/7
  1. 01

    Lumbar Puncture & CSF Analysis

    Tapping the spinal fluid - the closest look at the brain and its infections.

    9m
  2. 02

    Tissue Biopsy

    When chemistry is not enough - taking a physical sample of the disease itself.

    8m
  3. 03

    Plasmapheresis

    Washing the blood - removing harmful antibodies and proteins from the plasma.

    8m
  4. 04

    Bronchoscopy

    Looking down the airways - sampling, clearing, and inspecting the lungs from within.

    7m
  5. 05

    Cardiac Catheterization

    Threading a catheter to the heart - measuring pressures and opening blocked vessels.

    8m
  6. 06

    Intubation & Airway Management

    Securing the airway when a patient cannot breathe on their own.

    7m
  7. 07

    Dialysis

    Standing in for failed kidneys - filtering the blood when the body cannot.

    8m
04

Pathology & Rare Conditions

The diseases nobody thinks of first

The show's signature is the rare and unusual: autoimmune syndromes, deposition diseases, toxins, and exotic infections. This tier explains the pathology behind the conditions the team hunts - what they are, how they present, and why they are so easy to miss.

0/13
  1. 01

    Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

    The body's immune system turning on its own tissues - a great imitator.

    9m
  2. 02

    Sarcoidosis

    Clusters of inflammation (granulomas) that can appear in nearly any organ.

    8m
  3. 03

    Vasculitis

    Inflammation of the blood vessels themselves - a disease of many faces.

    9m
  4. 04

    Amyloidosis

    Abnormal proteins depositing in organs and quietly damaging them.

    8m
  5. 05

    Paraneoplastic Syndromes

    When a hidden cancer causes symptoms far from the tumor itself.

    9m
  6. 06

    Environmental Toxins

    When the environment - not the body - is the source of the disease.

    8m
  7. 07

    Heavy Metal Poisoning

    Lead, mercury, arsenic, and others - metals that disrupt enzymes and nerves.

    8m
  8. 08

    Prion Diseases

    Misfolded proteins that spread through the brain - rare, rapid, and fatal.

    8m
  9. 09

    Rare & Opportunistic Infections

    Pathogens most clinicians rarely see - and why they matter when immunity is compromised.

    8m
  10. 10

    Oncology & Cancer

    How cancer presents, spreads, and hides - and the systemic effects that mimic other disease.

    11m
  11. 11

    Neurologic Syndromes

    Stroke, seizures, headache, and brain lesions - localizing the problem in the nervous system.

    11m
  12. 12

    Hematology & Clotting

    Anemia, bleeding, and clotting - the blood's balance and how it fails.

    10m
  13. 13

    Kidney & Endocrine

    Renal failure and hormone excess or deficiency - organs that regulate the whole body.

    10m
05

The Diagnostic Method & Differential Deduction

How the team thinks

The show's real subject is not disease but thinking. This final tier unpacks the diagnostic method: building a differential, weighing competing explanations, and avoiding the cognitive traps that mislead even brilliant clinicians.

0/6
  1. 01

    The Whiteboard Differential

    The ritual of listing every possibility and arguing them down.

    8m
  2. 02

    Cognitive Biases in Diagnosis

    The mental shortcuts that lead good clinicians astray.

    9m
  3. 03

    Occam's Razor vs. Hickam's Dictum

    One disease or many? Two competing principles of parsimony.

    8m
  4. 04

    Symptom Clustering & Pattern Recognition

    Grouping findings into recognizable syndromes - and knowing when the pattern lies.

    8m
  5. 05

    False Leads & Red Herrings

    When the most obvious explanation is wrong - and how to escape it.

    8m
  6. 06

    Test Characteristics & Pretest Probability

    Sensitivity, specificity, predictive value, and why a test's meaning depends on what you already believe.

    11m