The Sims 4: Doctor Career Illness List

The Doctor career is one of the most challenging occupations in The Sims 4. Players with the Get To Work Pack will get to enjoy this active career, where you can join your Sims for a day of work and actually control what happens. Beware, though: being a doctor is anything but easy.

As a doctor, a Sim must accurately diagnose patients’ sicknesses. There are eight illnesses, from mild to deadly, which the Sim must know about. If they get it wrong, their job performance will be severely affected, thus threatening their future (not to mention patient lives). Here’s a list of all the illnesses a doctor Sim should be familiar with.

Updated on December 25, 2025, By Helen Ashcroft: It may have been a number of years since Get To Work was released, but a doctor’s work never ends. For those still dabbling in this interactive career, we’ve updated this list to include all the signs of each symptom as well as a description of how to identify and diagnose each different illness accurately and quickly.

All Illness Symptoms

Before you look at specific illnesses, you need to know how to identify common symptoms. Different symptom combinations will allow you to identify the different illnesses and diagnose them faster and easier.

Symptoms And What They Look Like

Each illness demonstrates a unique combination of symptoms. Here’s how to identify them all and which tests will narrow down your diagnosis choices quickly.

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Bloaty Head

Symptoms: Headache, steam coming from ears

Cure: Injection

It sounds obvious, but Sims with Bloaty Head will be experiencing a headache. You should be able to see a faint line around their head, almost like an aura. The Sim will also touch their head.

The unique indicator here is that they will also have steam coming out of their ears, and the two together is a sure sign that they have Bloaty Head. Focusing on taking temperature and examining ears will narrow down your options faster here.

Llama Flu

Symptoms: Coughing, fever, splotchy rash

Cure: Injection

Patients with Llama Flu will be noticeably coughing. They will also have a fever which usually presents as steam rising from their body. A splotchy rash is the third symptom here.

Something else you may notice is that the Sim’s face can droop so they look a little llama-like in appearance! If you spot this, then look for the other symptoms and any two of the three are usually enough to make a diagnosis. A temperature check and body scan will help with the diagnosis.

Sweaty Shivers

Symptoms: Splotchy rash, fever, itchiness

Cure: Injection

A Sim with Sweaty Shivers will have a fever, but the combination you want for this is for them to also have spots on their body, which tend to be a sickly orange or green. Another symptom is itchiness, so if you catch a patient scratching themselves, take note.

If they show all these symptoms at once, you can place your bets on them having Sweaty Shivers. Once again, a body scan and temperature check are the tests you’ll want to prioritize.

Gas And Giggles

Symptoms: Tiger striped rash, uncontrolled laughter, passing gas

Cure: Medication

This illness is pretty much what it describes: the afflicted Sim will be both giggly and gassy. They will laugh at random times, sometimes uncontrollably, and they’ll pass gas occasionally as well. This is one of the easiest illnesses to identify as a result.

With all that gas in their gut, you might catch them rubbing their stomach. To top it off, they usually have a rash on their face and body– one that resembles a tiger’s stripes. A body scan and general health check are good tests to run here.

Starry Eyes

Symptoms: Dizziness, delirium, swirl rash

Cure: Medication

If your Sims have Starry Eyes they’ll be feeling pretty rough. Stars will spin over their head, indicating dizziness, and they may swat at the sky in a sign of delirium. They might also have spots on their body that look like little swirls.

You’ll want to do temperature checks, a body scan and examine the Sim’s eyes or ears for this diagnosis to appear faster.

Itchy Plumbob

Symptoms: Itching, tiger rash, giggles

Cure: Surgery

Itchy Plumbob has a crossover with gas and giggles but is much more serious. The itching is the main extra clue you’ll want to look for, alongside the striped rash and giggles.

Itchy Plumbob is rarer than gas and giggles, so it’s best to be safe and perform an x-ray to ensure that you do need to operate, rather than just hand out a dose of medication.

Triple Threat

Symptoms: Dizziness, coughing, swirly rash

Cure: Surgery

Triple Threat, as the name suggests, comes with a lot of potential symptoms. The patient will feel dizzy, with stars spinning above their head. Sneezing and coughing are also likely. They can experience itchiness, which probably comes from the swirly rashes they’ll have.

This is another rare but serious illness which is similar to a mild one. You need to watch for coughing rather than delirium being matched with dizziness and swirly rash. As with other serious illnesses, make sure to use an x-ray or treadmill to properly diagnose this one.

Burnin’ Belly

Symptoms: Stomach ache, fever

Cure: Surgery

It’s unclear what causes Burnin’ Belly but Sims with this illness will rub their stomach, and you might see a thought bubble above their heads with a bottle of pink medicine inside it. The only other symptom is a fever, so check for the steam and sweating.

It’s the only illness where Sims will rub their bellies apart from Gas-and-Giggles, and it has different enough symptoms that this is the easiest rare illness to diagnose. However, it’s still worth doing at least one more advanced test, like an x-ray, just in case.

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