The profound radiologist.

Reza Estakhrian, Getty Images.

There’s a turn of phrase that many radiologists write in their reports that I recently realized is both subtle and incredibly insightful. My eyes probably skipped past it thousands of times before it occurred to me what it really means—and how absolutely profound it is.

And before all of my medical colleagues chime in with a guess, let me say this: the phrase is not “Recommend clinical correlation.” (Radiologists occasionally get flack for ending their reports with that little piece of hedging, basically advising the doctor who ordered the study to take the results in the context of the patient, as the interpretation could be confirmed or negated by the overall clinical picture—pun intended.)

Oh no, it’s much more understated than that, and it’s much more philosophical.

It’s actually the cornerstone of all medical testing…