18 Oct 2026
Why Passing Medical School Exams Isn’t Enough: Building Clinical Reasoning
Interested in joining my community for FREE? I’m now offering a free week trial for Medical School Companion. Inside the community, you’ll find weekly live teaching sessions with me as well as practice questions, video courses, and more: https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description (https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description)
What separates passing a medical school exam from understanding the patient in front of you? As a pathologist and medical educator, I’ve spent decades learning how much more there is to medicine than knowing the right answer. In this episode of Dr. Tisdall Unfiltered, I explore how clinical mentorship, thoughtful questioning, and a structured understanding of pathophysiology help turn memorized facts into clinical reasoning.
I begin with a conversation I had with a former student during his clinical clerkship about an ovarian cystic teratoma, also called a dermoid cyst. What started as a discussion about one diagnosis became an opportunity to explore medical terminology, tissue origins, and the Rokitansky nodule. I explain how a tutor can help you make connections that reading alone may leave unexplored—and why arriving with questions is part of learning medicine.
I also share my experience with oral examinations and why being questioned about what you don’t know can feel uncomfortable even when you’re doing well. Learning to work with people who know more than you is an essential part of medical training, and embarrassment shouldn’t keep you from seeking guidance.
Then I walk through diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), connecting insulin deficiency and counterregulatory hormones to changes in the liver, muscle, and fat cells. I trace how impaired glucose uptake, glycogenolysis, gluconeogenesis, and ketone production fit together to explain hyperglycemia, dehydration, and acidosis. My goal is to give you a structure for understanding disease mechanisms and connecting them to a patient’s symptoms, signs, and laboratory findings.
Whether you’re studying for medical school exams, entering clinical rotations, or strengthening your approach to patient care, I want you to ask more than “Do I know this fact?” Ask yourself, “Can I explain how it all fits together?”
Follow Dr. Tisdall Unfiltered on Spotify or Apple Podcasts for more expert interviews and conversations about medical education, clinical reasoning, and the practice of medicine.
Get my free 6 week clinical reasoning series (12 high-yield multiple choice questions with MD-written answers): https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/mcq-email-series?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description (https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/mcq-email-series?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description)
Clinical Pathophysiology (Edition 2) is now available for purchase! https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/textbook?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description (https://www.drphiliptisdall.com/textbook?utm_medium=social&utm_source=spotify&utm_campaign=spotify_description)
Watch the full video episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/hH33awW0TeE (https://youtu.be/hH33awW0TeE)
