Organizing principle for differential diagnoses based on etiology:
- Vascular – diseases caused by “vessel” (bleed or blocked) or anything related to hematology.
- Infectious / Inflammatory
- Traumatic / Toxic
- Autoimmune or allergy
- Metabolic
- Iatrogenic / Idiopathic
- Neoplastic
- Social – diseases caused by “social” reasons
- Alcohol – alcohol-related disorders.
- Behavioral – behavioral or psychosomatic disorders
- Congenital (the entire VITAMINSABCDEK could be applied as appropriate to tease out categories of congenital diseases)
- Degenerative / Drug related
- Endocrine or exocrine problems.
- Karyotype or genetic disorders.
Note that this is a rendition of VINDICATED MEN mnemonic.
Further Reading
Adv Med Educ Pract. 2016; 7: 247–248. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4853007/