Filly's 10th Law
Be reasonable.
This “law” is short but sweet. It is without doubt, the most important lesson ever taught to me as a diagnostician. The “Law” was passed to me by one of my mentors (Professor Norman Blank – the great pulmonary radiologist). He said: “Roy, I can’t guarantee that I am right, I can only guarantee that I have been reasonable.” No diagnostician is always right. But when you look back at your errors (and you must take every opportunity to do so), you definitely want to conclude that you were reasonable. Inattention must NEVER be the reason for your error. The corollary to this is that the most experienced diagnostician became the “most experienced diagnostician” through the school of hard knocks.