Becoming a good doctor can be tricky. You need to examine lots of patients, perform different tests, and learn how the game’s diagnosis system works.
Once your Sim reaches Level 4 of the Medical Career, they can start diagnosing patients.
The problem is that some of the older methods for diagnosing illnesses don’t always seem to work reliably anymore.
Visual symptoms can still provide useful clues, but players have reported that they can be inconsistent after game updates.
How do you diagnose patients correctly in The Sims 4?
The safest approach is to perform several examinations on the same patient before making a diagnosis.
Start with the basic examinations available to your Sim. Check the patient’s ears and eyes, take their temperature, scan their body, and perform any other tests that become available.
You don’t necessarily need to perform every possible examination on every patient. However, gathering more information can help narrow down the possible diagnoses.
One method players currently use is to fully upgrade the X-ray scanner at the hospital. After performing the initial examinations, refer the patient for an X-ray scan.
If the results aren’t enough to identify the illness, you can refer the patient for another X-ray scan.
Keep doing this until the game narrows the results down to one possible diagnosis.
The X-ray method can be particularly useful if you’re having trouble identifying illnesses from visual symptoms.
Should you rely on visual symptoms?
You can still look for visual clues when examining patients. Watch for things such as spots, rashes, unusual markings, itching, and other symptoms.
However, don’t rely entirely on what you see.
What if the diagnosis isn’t conclusive?
Sometimes the game simply won’t give you enough information to make a confident diagnosis.
If you get a message saying that the results aren’t conclusive, you may be better off moving on to another patient rather than spending a long time trying to figure out the illness.
If you’ve narrowed the possibilities down to two diagnoses, you can also make your best guess and treat the patient. You’ll receive a notification afterward telling you whether your diagnosis was correct.
Improve your Sim’s skills
Increasing your Sim’s Logic skill is useful for a doctor. Having your Sim Focused while working can also help with Logic-related activities.
Charisma can be useful as well because doctors need to communicate with patients, but don’t expect Charisma alone to solve the diagnosis problem.
The most important thing is to examine the patient properly and gather enough information before choosing a treatment.
The more patients you examine, the more familiar you’ll become with the different illnesses and their symptoms.
Editor’s Note: This guide was updated in August 2026.