How to Correctly Diagnose & Treat Sim Illnesses in The Sims 4

Players can master the art of diagnosing and treating patients in The Sims 4’s active Doctor Career with this in-depth guide. From identifying a range of illnesses and their symptoms to guiding players through every step of patient care, here, fans will get everything they need to excel at the medical profession in The Sims 4.

At this job, players will have to administer immunizations, prescribe medicines, and perform surgeries to ensure every Sim leaves the hospital healthier than when they arrived. With the right approach, diagnosing and treating patients becomes a smooth and rewarding experience – here’s how it works.

Updated on December 26, 2025, by Ashely Claudino: When Sims get sick, they have to go to the doctor. Thankfully, with Get to Work, players can pick the Doctor Career and help every Sim in need. Enchanted by Nature introduced ailments to The Sims 4; these illnesses are much more peculiar and cannot be cured by a doctor – they require perfectly crafted elixirs. This guide has been updated with information on ailments, so players know how to identify and cure each ailment in The Sims 4.

How to Diagnose Patients in The Sims 4

In the early stages of the Doctor Career in The Sims 4, Sims primarily handle basic tasks like admitting patients to exam beds, treating those with pre-diagnosed illnesses, and cleaning up after they leave. To place a patient in an exam bed, players have to click on the Sim and select “Admit to Exam Bed.” Patients will have a pulsing blue and white heart above their heads.

Once they reach Level 4, a doctor’s role becomes more complex, requiring them to assess symptoms, conduct diagnostic tests, and determine the correct illness before administering treatment. Observing symptoms such as sneezing, rashes, or dizziness provides clues, while running tests like swabbing for samples, taking temperatures, and using the X-ray machine or treadmill test through medical referrals helps narrow down the diagnosis.

How to Run Diagnostic Tests in The Sims 4

Running diagnostic tests is essential for pinpointing a patient’s illness beyond just observing their symptoms. To do this, players have to click on the patient and locate the “Examine Patient” social menu. From there, they can choose between various tests, including checking ears and eyes, discussing general health, taking temperatures, swabbing for samples, and scanning the body.

Swabbing patients for a DNA sample and analyzing it with the chemical analyzer is one of the quickest ways to gather useful information about a Sim’s condition. After conducting multiple tests, doctors can make a Weak Diagnosis, which presents a broad list of possible illnesses. To narrow down the options further, medical referral tests provide additional insight, allowing for a more accurate diagnosis.

How to Run Medical Referral Tests in The Sims 4

Medical referral tests provide a deeper level of analysis when standard diagnostic tests don’t offer enough clarity. By selecting the “Medical Referral” social menu on the patient, doctors can choose to run either an X-ray scan or a treadmill test. Since both of these tests are more involved and take up time, they should only be used when a Sim still has a weak diagnosis chance after performing all available diagnostic tests, analyzing a DNA sample, and observing their symptoms.

When used strategically, referral tests can push a weak diagnosis into a Compelling Diagnosis, significantly narrowing down the list of possible illnesses. This makes it much easier to confidently diagnose and treat the patient without risking a misdiagnosis. To diagnose the patient, players have to click on the patient Sim, select “Compelling Diagnosis,” and choose the correct illness based on the known information.

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All Illnesses in The Sims 4

The table below outlines all the illnesses that patients can develop in The Sims 4 Get To Work, including their common symptoms and any associated rashes. While rashes can help identify an illness, they don’t always appear, so relying solely on them can sometimes lead to misdiagnosis. To improve accuracy, players should closely observe a patient’s idle animations, such as sneezing, coughing, or experiencing dizzy spells, as these provide valuable clues about their condition.

Thought bubbles also offer hints, with icons like fire, a medication bottle, a thermometer, tissues, a stethoscope, or pills indicating potential symptoms. By combining these visual cues with diagnostic tests, players can confidently determine the correct illness and provide the right treatment.

How to Treat Illnesses in The Sims 4

Once a doctor has diagnosed a patient, the Sim will have a pulsing red heart above their heads. The next step is administering the correct treatment through the “Treat Patient” menu. Sims can be cured in one of three ways: an immunization shot, liquid medication, or surgery. Immunizations and medications work instantly, but illnesses requiring surgery will prompt the doctor to escort the patient to the surgery machine for a more advanced procedure.

If a doctor misdiagnoses and mistreats a patient, the Sim will briefly pass out before leaving the hospital still sick, which can negatively impact job performance. Successfully treating patients, however, can boost work performance and help doctors advance in their careers more quickly.

How to Treat Ailments in The Sims 4

While Sims can pick the Doctor Career in Get to Work and help others get rid of their illnesses, with Enchanted by Nature, they can become Apothe-curists by following the Naturopath career and cure ailments. Similarly to illnesses, ailments have a physical representation and Sims affected by them will behave in a certain way and experience an array of symptoms.

Sims may develop ailments from bad luck, fairy curses, or being close to an affect Sim. When this happens, they will seek someone with the Apothecary Skill so they can cure them.

To cure ailments in The Sims 4, players will have to craft the right potions using an Apothecary Table. In order to do this, they must have the minimum required level for the recipe and to have the necessary ingredients in their inventory. Once the potion is ready, they can hand it to a Sim in need to cure them of their ailments.

Below, players can check out all of the ailments in The Sims 4 and how they can identify them and properly cure them.

Released

September 2, 2014

ESRB

T for Teen: Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence

Publisher(s)

Electronic Arts