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Steve has just seen a 5-year-old girl who wheezes when exposed to cats. The patient's family history is positive for asthma. You think the child most likely has asthma. What have you just accomplished? A) You have tested your hypothesis. B) You have developed a plan. C) You have established a working diagnosis. D) You have created a hypothesis.

User Dipdipdip
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Final answer:

In the scenario described, you have established a working diagnosis of asthma for the 5-year-old girl. This is based on her symptoms of wheezing when exposed to cats and a positive family history of asthma.

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given scenario, you have accomplished option C, you have established a working diagnosis. This term refers to a preliminary diagnosis made by a doctor based on the observed symptoms and patient history while waiting for more conclusive test results. In this case, the 5-year old girl's wheezing triggered by exposure to cats, along with the positive family history for asthma, strongly suggests she may have asthma.

A working diagnosis helps medical professionals manage a patient's symptoms and treatment without being 100% certain of the full diagnosis. It does not represent a tested and verified hypothesis which could be option A. The working diagnosis is also not a developed plan (option B) which would include a comprehensive approach to treating and managing the patient's condition. Finally, although a hypothesis has been made that the girl might have asthma, the observations in this instance extend beyond forming a basic hypothesis (option D) to forming a working diagnosis based on the available evidence.

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