“Three Stories” is the House M.D. episode in which House lectures about three medical cases.
In the episode, House is asked to teach medical students while another physician is unavailable. He presents three apparently separate patient stories, and the audience initially has to determine which symptoms and diagnoses belong together. The lecture format lets the show explore diagnostic reasoning while also withholding the personal connection between the cases and House himself.
The episode ultimately links the teaching exercise to House’s past medical crisis. It dramatizes the leg infarction that led to his chronic pain and explains why he uses a cane. The narrative’s structure mirrors a diagnostic investigation: information is presented selectively, assumptions are challenged, and the final interpretation changes the meaning of earlier details.
“Three Stories” aired in the first season and was written by David Shore. It is notable both for its unusual non-linear structure and for supplying important background about the protagonist, rather than simply presenting a routine hospital case.