Think like a clinician
with DDx by Sketchy

DDx is Sketchy’s interactive case simulation platform that helps medical, PA and nurse practitioner students build real clinical skills through virtual patient encounters. Designed to be both effective and flexible, DDx offers a mix of full-length clinical cases and quick, game-style case challenges—so you can fit meaningful practice into any schedule, whether you’ve got 30 minutes or just a quick study break.

Powered by AI and grounded in real-world reasoning, DDx helps you practice diagnosing, managing, and presenting patients in a fun, low-pressure environment. Whether you’re prepping for boards, rotations, OSCEs or want to start thinking like a clinician, DDx helps you bridge the gap between memorization and real-world medicine—one case at a time.

As long as you have a Sketchy subscription, you can try DDx free for a limited time. Login and select the Cases tab to get started!

Students love Sketchy because it is an excellent learning tool used by students in every US medical school to retain complex medical material tested on exams and boards. DDx was created to allow students to apply foundational medical knowledge learned on Sketchy in a real patient case through a safe virtual environment. Students can choose across a diverse case library of traditional cases for deep learning or quick game exercise and there’s coverage across core rotations and systems.  

Case-based learning (CBL) is an active learning method where you apply your knowledge to realistic patient scenarios. Instead of passively absorbing information, you’re challenged to interpret symptoms, form differentials, and decide on next steps—just like in real clinical practice. It works because it helps you connect basic science to clinical reasoning, improves retention, and trains you to think through problems, not just memorize answers. Leverage it to be a better student by incorporating interactive cases into your study routine—especially during board prep or rotation prep.

Absolutely. Practicing clinical cases trains you to spot key findings, build differentials, and explain your reasoning—skills that attendings, preceptors and OSCE examiners look for. On rotations, you’ll be more confident presenting patients, answering “what would you do next?” questions, and thinking out loud during rounds.
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On OSCEs, you’ll be quicker at structuring patient encounters, recognizing red flags, and confidently walking through your plan. On boards prep, you’ll get to practice high-yield vignettes and test the application of basic science knowledge. Practicing in a safe, simulated setting helps you show up prepared and composed for your biggest milestones in medical, PA and nurse practitioner school.

Thinking like a clinician means shifting from “What do I know?” to “What should I do with this information?” Start by asking yourself:
• What’s the most likely diagnosis?
• What else could it be?
• What would I do next if this were a real patient?

Use case simulations that guide you through the clinical thought process—from initial presentation to management decisions. The more you practice applying your knowledge, the more automatic your clinical reasoning becomes.

Start simple. When you review a case, always try to list 2–3 possible diagnoses before jumping to the answer. Use a structure like:
• Is it the most common thing?
• Is it the most dangerous thing?
• What would I need to rule out first?
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Case-based platforms like DDx are perfect because they let you walk through realistic patient encounters and get feedback on your thinking—helping you refine your differentials with each case you do.

Start using your knowledge in context. You already know the pathophys and mechanisms—now it’s time to apply it to real situations. Use interactive cases to:
• Connect symptoms to systems and diseases
• Practice identifying key findings (what matters most)
• Make clinical decisions, like what test to order or what treatment to give
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The transition is about practice. Just like you learned facts by repetition, you’ll build clinical skills by working through cases over and over—until it clicks. That’s the idea behind DDx: empowering students to practice clinical reasoning as often as they want, on their own terms.