< i > Differential Diagnosis

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Physicians depend on Occam's Razor to help them come up with a short list of possible diagnoses consistant with the patient's presenting symptoms (the differential diagnosis). For example - if the patient has a cough, chest pain, and a fever - we would favor a diagnosis of pneumonia over the dual diagnoses of sinusitis and esophagitis. While both hypotheses cover all the symptoms, the former is "better" because it demands that fewer things have to happen.