Introducing the PAI “Differential Diagnosis” task

Last month we launched the “Tasks” feature of the Physiopedia AI Assistant (PAI) and have been exploring each task option in more detail. Following our previous articles on the Red Flag Check, Referral Letter, Clinical Documentation (SOAP Note), Discharge Report, SMART Goal and Patient Education Guide tasks, this article focuses on another powerful tool in the PAI toolkit: the Differential Diagnosis task.

Learn more about the Physiopedia AI Assistant.

The clinical reasoning challenge

Differential diagnosis represents one of the most cognitively demanding aspects of physiotherapy practice. Patients rarely present with textbook symptoms and clinicians must navigate complex clinical presentations, often with overlapping signs and symptoms that could indicate multiple possible conditions. This diagnostic process becomes particularly challenging when encountering less common presentations or conditions that are outside a therapist’s typical area of practice.

Even experienced clinicians can face uncertainty when patients present with atypical symptoms or when multiple systems might be involved. The challenge is magnified for new graduates who are still developing their clinical pattern recognition skills. Developing the ability to systematically work through complex presentations, while ensuring no serious pathologies are overlooked, is one of the most important skills to build across a physiotherapy career.

Additionally, staying current with the latest evidence across all areas of practice is increasingly difficult given the expanding scope of physiotherapy and the growing research base. This can create a knowledge gap where even dedicated clinicians may not be aware of emerging understanding about specific conditions or recent updates to best practice assessment approaches.

How PAI’s “Differential Diagnosis” task works

The PAI Differential Diagnosis task supports you in working through a structured analysis of possible diagnoses. As you discuss a scenario with PAI, sharing subjective and objective findings, PAI helps you identify the key clinical information relevant to the reasoning process. When you request the task, PAI works with you to develop a prioritised list of potential diagnoses, with the clinical reasoning behind each possibility made explicit so you can engage with and learn from the process.

What distinguishes this task is its interactive, evidence-informed approach. PAI prompts you to consider whether the information provided is sufficient, encouraging you to think through what additional findings might be relevant to the reasoning process. Importantly, the Differential Diagnosis task is designed to support – not replace – clinical reasoning. It serves as a thinking partner that can suggest possibilities a clinician might have overlooked, particularly for presentations outside their regular scope of experience. The task related conversation can also include suggested assessment techniques that can help confirm or rule out specific conditions, supporting the use of an evidence-based clinical reasoning approach.

Lisa uses the PAI Differential Diagnosis task

Physiotherapy student Lisa is working through a case study involving a 42-year-old patient with bilateral hand pain, morning stiffness lasting over an hour and recent similar symptoms in the feet. She suspects an inflammatory pathology but is unsure how to systematically work through the possibilities and wants to develop her clinical reasoning for this type of presentation.

Lisa describes the presentation to PAI and selects the Differential Diagnosis task. PAI works through the case with her, helping her think about what the combination of symptoms might indicate and which conditions should be considered. Together they explore several possibilities including Systemic Lupus Erythematosus. PAI explains the reasoning for including each on the list of potential diagnoses and asks Lisa to consider what features of the presentation support or argue against each option. The inclusion of SLE is new to Lisa, and PAI’s explanation of why it should be considered helps her understand a presentation pattern she hadn’t previously encountered.

PAI then prompts Lisa to think through what assessment findings would help distinguish between these possibilities, introducing her to an evidence based test and explaining what a positive finding would indicate, alongside other relevant clinical indicators.

By the end of the process, Lisa has worked through a structured differential diagnosis with a clear understanding of the clinical reasoning behind it, building pattern recognition skills she can apply to future presentations.

Accessing the Differential Diagnosis task

To try this new PAI task, log in to your Plus account. On any Plus page, open PAI by clicking the Ask PAI? button that is always visible at the bottom right of the page. In the PAI panel, click the Tasks button. Scroll the Tasks list and click the Request button for the Differential Diagnosis task.

 

Getting started with the PAI Differential Diagnosis task

You can try PAI’s Differential Diagnosis task today with a free trial of Plus. Plus Full and Pro Members already have access—click on Ask PAI? on your dashboard to get started.

The Differential Diagnosis task serves as an invaluable resource across the spectrum of clinical experience. For new graduates, it provides structured guidance through the complex process of clinical reasoning, helping develop pattern recognition skills while ensuring critical factors aren’t overlooked. For experienced clinicians, it offers a structured way to reflect on complex or unfamiliar presentations, helping to surface possibilities that might be outside their typical practice area and deepen their reasoning around less familiar conditions.

Tips

For optimal results with the Differential Diagnosis task:

• Provide comprehensive details in your conversation with PAI when requesting the task
• Respond to PAI’s requests for additional information to ensure a more accurate and useful differential diagnosis list
• Use the prioritised list as a complement to your clinical reasoning, not a replacement. Your expertise and direct patient assessment remain central to the diagnostic process
• Use the task as a learning tool to expand your clinical pattern recognition skills by understanding the reasoning behind each suggested diagnosis

Whether you are developing your clinical reasoning skills, exploring an unfamiliar presentation type, or wanting to deepen your understanding of evidence-based approaches to differential diagnosis, PAI’s Differential Diagnosis task can support you in building the pattern recognition and reasoning skills that underpin confident clinical practice.

Photo by momo lin on Unsplash