The Future of Diagnosis

Robert Trowbridge, MD is an Associate Professor of Medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine and Director of Undergraduate Medical Curriculum at Maine Medical Center in Portland, Maine. He is a clinician-educator with expertise in teaching clinical reasoning and avoidance of diagnostic error. He has won over 20 clinical teaching awards and remains clinically active as a hospitalist. His research has centered on ways of helping to identify diagnostic errors and provide feedback to clinicians in a manner that improves diagnostic reliability with over 30 peer-reviewed publications and 20 book chapters. He served as the Co-Chair of the SIDM Education Committee from 2013-2016 and was a longtime member of the Planning Committee for the International Diagnostic Error in Medicine conference, chairing the conference in 2016 and 2017.

tired in 2016 from The Minneapolis Foundation, where he worked with charitable Minnesota families for nearly twenty years. Following the death of his daughter, Julia Berg, as a consequence of diagnostic error, he has published articles and commentaries about the culture of medicine and medical systems from the patient/family perspective. With his wife, Welcome Jerde, he has participated in numerous forums on the topic of patient safety through the University of Minnesota Medical School, the Minnesota Alliance for Patient Safety, and the American Association of Medical Colleges. He has participated in several projects and conference planning committees for the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine (SIDM). He serves as chair of the Patient Engagement Advisory Committee of SIDM, and in 2022 received its first annual Patient Engagement Award.