With a tagline of “symptoms to solutions” you can easily guess what Symcat does. You plug in a bunch of symptoms and it then gives you a selection of ailments you may have, with percentages. You answer a few questions about yourself and your medical history and input as many symptoms as you can to narrow down the options.
Of course, like any automated medical technology, it’s not really up-to-scratch with a regular physician (we won’t be having holographic emergency doctors anytime soon). However, it’s a good place to do a bit of research and to find out things you might want to ask your doctor about.
Before you go all hypochondriac on everyone, note that there is a disclaimer that says only a licensed medical provider may diagnose and treat diseases.
It’s kinda fun to just plug in random ailments and see what turns up. Check out “feeling hot”. No, fever is not the most likely thing you have…You can also check out what other people are currently looking up – like a twitter feed for symptoms. It feels strangely voyeuristic…
I’d be curious to see if we have any doctor readers and if they can comment on the usefulness/accuracy of this and other self-assessing programs?