In House M.D., what is Dr. House’s diagnostic specialty?

In House M.D., Dr. House’s specialty is diagnostic medicine.

House leads a department dedicated to diagnosing complex cases that other physicians have been unable to explain. His team reviews symptoms, tests competing hypotheses, and repeatedly revises its conclusions as new evidence appears.

Diagnostic medicine is not presented as a routine single-organ specialty. Instead, it draws on knowledge from many areas, including infectious disease, neurology, immunology, oncology, and cardiology. That broad scope explains why House’s cases often involve several specialties at once.

The show’s structure resembles a medical mystery: the team begins with a puzzling presentation, gathers evidence, and narrows the differential diagnosis. “Diagnostic medicine” is therefore the canonical name for House’s department, rather than “general practice” or one of the organ-based specialties.