Zebra (medical)

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Zebra is a slang medical term for an obscure and unlikely diagnosis from ordinary symptoms.

It derives from the aphorism "When you hear hoofbeats, think horses, not zebras",^[1] which was probably coined by Dr. Theodore Woodward, a former professor at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, School of Medicine.^{[citation needed]}

A similar term for an obscure and rare diagnosis in medicine is fascinoma.

[edit] Other medical aphorisms

• Sutton's Law - perform first the diagnostic test expected to be most useful
• Occam's Razor - multiple causes should not be posited without reason
• Leonard's Law of Physical Findings - it's obvious or it's not there^[2]
• KISS Principle - Keep It Simple, Stupid

[edit] Uses

• The House of God - a novel about medical internship.

[edit] References