Sir William Osler, the father of American medicine, stated: " If you listen long enough, the patient will give you the diagnosis." We need to always retain our roots in old-fashioned, traditional medicine.

    Assessment is performed by:

  • Taking a thorough and relevant history
  • Performing a thorough and relevant exam
  • Ordering and interpreting laboratory tests in the proper context
  • Exercising sound clinical judgment by someone trained in a field relevant to the patient's complaints.

We therefore need to recognize the patient's unique situations and examine them in a relevant manner. In psychiatry, much of this assessment is performed by a thorough examination. Many screening protocols exist, but these are rough screening tools and require follow-up individualized assessment.