Get to Work was the first Expansion Pack released for The Sims 4 and introduced the first 3 active careers into the game, plus the ability to run your own business. These active careers, instead of your Sims disappearing off screen to work, had you following them to their workplace and directing them through their day. The 3 careers were Scientist, Detective, and Doctor. For this guide, we will focus on the Doctor career.
As a Doctor, you get the choice to go with your Sim to the hospital and help them diagnose and treat sick patients. Being a Doctor is certainly very active in The Sims 4, with every work day guaranteed to keep you busy. If you’re looking to get to the top, it’ll mean a lot of hard work, but we’ll show you how to get there in this guide. We’ll also give you tips on how to make the work day easier as a Doctor.
We have plenty more guides for The Sims 4, including these:
How the Doctor Career Works
Before you decide to jump into the Doctor career in The Sims 4, we’ll give you a rundown of how it works.
Applying for the Doctor Career
Applying to join the Doctor career couldn’t be easier. You just sign up like any other career in The Sims 4 and you’re in. No need to go to medical school or get any medical training. Even starter Sims with no skills can get stuck in and easily climb the ranks.
You apply for the Doctor career just as with any job in The Sims 4.
Follow to Work or Send Alone?
The Doctor career is an active career. The Sims 4 and its DLCs has introduced many active careers. However, many of these give you the option of going to work or working from home. In these instances, it’s working from home where you get to be more active and watch your Sims in action. The 3 careers that come with Get to Work are a little different. You get 2 options when it comes to your work day. You can send your Sim alone, meaning you won’t follow them to work and it’ll function just like any off-screen career in The Sims 4. The other option is to go with your Sim to their place of work, i.e. the hospital. This is where all the action of being a Doctor takes place.
If you choose not to follow your Sim, you have limited options on how you can direct them. You can make them Work Hard or Slack Off, but you cannot experience their work while they’re out. If you want to get the full Doctor experience, you’ll have to go with them to work. This is also necessary if you want to get promoted, as the promotional requirements are actions only done during an active work day.
If you want to get the most out of the Doctor career, select the option to follow your Sim to work.
A Day at Work
When you go with your Sim, after a loading screen, you’ll be transported to their workplace. You’ll be taken to the pre-built hospital Lot (which is in the same neighborhood as the police station for the Detective career). You won’t be able to visit this neighborhood outside of work hours.
For the duration of your Sim’s scheduled work day, they’ll remain at the hospital. They’ll only leave at the end of their shift, if they have an emergency house call, or you choose for them to leave early. Leaving early will penalize your Sim’s Performance. You can also choose to Stay Late, which extends the work day by 2 hours. This is ideal if your Sim is on a brink of diagnosing and treating a patient and needs a little more time, or if they want to fill up their daily performance meter some more. Note that a work day extension can only be done once, so don’t waste the added time they get!
Watch the countdown to the end of the shift and decide whether to extend the time if needed.
Work Tasks
Every day at work, your Sim will get a list of tasks to complete. They can, if you wish, do anything you like. However, completing these set tasks fills up the daily performance meter. This meter affects how much your Sims get paid at the end of their shift, and how much their overall performance goes up. You want the bar filled to at least bronze level, but silver is more ideal, and gold is your target for the highest pay, performance, and ultimately a ticket to a promotion. It is therefore recommended that you stick with the tasks given if you want to end the work day in the gold.
The tasks you get given depends on the level you’re currently in. At the bottom level, the tasks will be easy, such as talking to co-workers and cleaning up and giving patients food. As you climb up the career level, you’ll be given a lot more responsibility, until your tasks are generally diagnosing and treating patients. We’ll go into more detail of the tasks later in this guide. If you are unsure of how to complete a task, you can hover over it in the list and it’ll give you some simple instructions.
Completing set tasks leads to bigger salaries and possible promotions.
End of Shift
At the end of every shift, a pop-up box will appear in the middle of the screen. This will give you an overall assessment of how well you performed that day, informing you of how much money you made. You may also earn a Vacation Day, which you can use to take a day off work without being penalized. If you meet all the requirements, you may also get informed that you’ve been promoted to the next level. You’ll see your new job title, salary, bonus, and any rewards gained. You won’t get a pop-up message like this if you don’t follow your Sim to work that day.
You’ll be informed of how well you performed that day and the amount you’ll be paid at the end of every active shift.
Workplace Events
As you get higher in the Doctor career, throughout the shift at the workplace, there’s a random chance that you’ll have some kind of work-related event. You’ll get two ways of being notified about an impending event: the upcoming event will appear at the top of the tasks list, and you’ll get a pop-up box like the one for the end of shift, giving you details of what’s going on and what you need to do.
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- When a work event arises, you’ll get notified.
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- The event will also be added to the list of tasks, appearing just before it starts.
Tour of the Hospital
If you choose to spend a lot of time following your Sim to work as a Doctor, you might as well get to know your way around the hospital. It’s not an enormous place, and it only has one floor, but it’s big enough. It’s not hard to get lost, but we’ll give you a tour of the hospital and where you can find everything you need.
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- The exterior of the hospital.
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- The complete layout of the hospital, all on one level.
Reception
At the front of the hospital, this is where all Sims enter, patients and employees. There’s a desk with someone always manning it. Here, you’ll see new patients queuing up, waiting to be admitted. Emergency patients who require urgent surgery will go to reception, and you will be notified of their arrival. The front desk is also notably used for two workplace events: travelling to a house call, and collecting data samples for analysis.
The hospital reception, with the front desk and queue of new patients.
Restroom
The restroom is just off the reception. It’s one small room with just one toilet and sink. There aren’t cubicles, which means that if a Sim is already in the restroom, you’ll have to wait or shoo them out.
Patient Rooms
These row of rooms is generally where you’ll find the hospital’s admitted patients. Altogether, there are 3 rooms, with 2 exam beds in each one, which gives you room for 6 admitted patients to wait to be diagnosed and treated. The lab and testing rooms are nearby, plus the operating theaters are just down the hall if any patient does need surgery.
Admitted patients are normally found in the patient rooms along the corridor.
Laboratory
The laboratory contains the machines used to analyze patient samples, a crucial tool for diagnosing illnesses. There are two analyzing machines available to use. One is usually in use by an NPC doctor, so the other will be free, unless it’s broken. There’s also a desk with a computer in this room, if you want to quickly log some sample results.
X-Ray Room
Next door to the laboratory is a room with two x-ray machines. This is where you take your patients to get their x-rays done. X-ray machines can break down, occasionally in the middle of a scan. It’s best to get the machines upgraded so they don’t break. There’s also an upgrade to speed up scanning times, but this doesn’t seem to have much impact, so save your energy and upgrade parts on making the machines more durable. The upgrades take about an hour or two to complete.
Treadmill Room
This is another room in the hospital where tests on patients are conducted. More specifically, the Treadmill Test. There are two treadmills in this room. The treadmills do not have any upgrade options. There is also a desk with a computer.
There are 3 rooms dedicated to different tests on patients at the hospital.
Gym
Strangely enough, the hospital has its own gymnasium, complete with treadmills, wall mirrors, and lockers. You won’t find patients or staff using these autonomously, but if you ever wish to get a quick workout while at work, this is here for your convenience. Tucked away to the side of the hospital, it can be easy to miss this room and forget that it’s there.
The hospital has its own gym, if you ever want to use it.
Cafeteria
If you ever find yourself getting peckish during the day, or needing a quick mug of coffee, the cafeteria is your go-to place. There’s a microwave as well to heat something up.
The hospital cafeteria, if you ever want a break.
Operating Theaters
Patients requiring surgery or a baby delivery end up in the operating theater. There are two operating rooms, with an operating table in each one. There’s a computer and sink as well.
The operating theaters, located just down the hall from the patient rooms.
Outside
There’s not too much to find outside in the grounds of the hospital. You probably won’t find yourself out here very often. There’s not much to do or going on.
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- The police station is in the same neighborhood as the hospital.
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- There’s a nearby park, but there’s not a lot going on there.
Tasks in the Doctor Career
Every active day in the Doctor career keeps you busy with plenty of tasks to complete. Fulfilling set tasks contributes towards your daily performance, which in turn impacts your overall performance.
I’ll start with the tasks that will appear in the first levels of the career, then work up to bigger responsibilities such as treating and even operating on patients. Most tasks only require you to do them once to complete them.
Early Level Tasks
Deliver Food: Patients spend a long time waiting in hospital and can get hungry. You can give them some good old hospital food by using the interaction Deliver Food. This can only be done when the patient is sitting on an exam bed.
Mop Up Puddle: Puddles can occasionally be found around the hospital. Simply click on the puddle to clean up the mess.
Make Bed: The exam beds that patients wait on can get dishevelled from use. A made-up bed will become “dirty” after the patient has stepped off the bed for whatever reason. If you see an exam bed with askew sheets, the option Make Bed appears. This option isn’t available if the bed is occupied. Patients can still use beds even if they are messy.
Look out for messy beds to tidy up.
Chat With Patient: Patients can get lonely in hospital, not to mention nervous, so it’s good to talk to them. Patients can be socialized with on the exam beds. If you have not yet met the patient, you’ll need to introduce yourself before any social interactions become available. However, you don’t need to do this to perform tests and examinations.
Socialize With Co-Workers: You’re not the only worker at the hospital. There are three other staff working on any given day. There’s someone to man the front desk, an assistant, and a doctor. Since you’ll be working alongside these Sims, it’s good to get to know them and be friendly. Especially in your first days, tasks will include greeting your new co-workers, then chatting with them and discussing work and asking about their day. The Discuss Work and Ask About Day options appear under Friendly > Small Talk.
Your first day on the job usually involves getting to know your co-workers.
Wash Hands to Sterilize Germs: This is another easy early task. There are sinks all around the hospital, including the restroom, cafeteria, and operating theaters.
Grab a Snack Between Seeing Patients: Doctors have long work days. It’s a good idea to take a break from helping patients and keeping the hospital clean by heading over to the cafeteria and getting something to eat. Select the fridge and you’ll see 5 different options:
- Soda (§5)
- Faux BLT (§11)
- Pastry (§11)
- Sandwich (§11)
- Pre-Made Meal (§16)
If you want something quick, grab a soda. If you want something a bit more filling, get a BLT, pastry, or sandwich. If your Sim is really hungry though, have them make up a pre-made meal. Grabbing a snack or drink takes up about an hour in your Sim’s working day.
Have a Cup of Coffee: Also in the cafeteria is a coffee making machine. If your Sims are getting tired during their long shift, they can always have a coffee to keep them going until the end of their day.
Snacks and coffee are always available in the cafeteria.
Research Health Reports Online: This is a task you may get in the early days of your Doctor career. This gets your Sim up to speed with the latest medical news and research. This can be done on any computer at the hospital and generally doesn’t take long.
Treating Patients
Once you get past the first level of the Doctor career, you begin to get more responsibilities. You can’t yet conduct tests on patients, not until the next level, but you will be able to treat their illnesses after they have been seen to by a doctor. At level 2, this is what you are able to do:
Swab a Patient for Sample: Taking a swab from a patient is necessary for testing samples to find out what’s wrong with them. This interaction is found under Examine Patient… when you select them. Along with the examinations, there’s the option Swab for Sample. Samples can only be taken and tested once per patient, so it’s important to get it right. Swabs can only be done when a patient is sitting on an exam bed. There is a chance that your Sim will fumble and drop the sample on the floor. Don’t panic if this happens. You can try as many times until your Sim successfully gets a sample. Once that’s done, the option to swab will be greyed out for that patient. Swab samples appear in your Sim’s inventory and are stacked up.
Make sure to get a swab sample from a patient.
Practice Bio Analysis: Since the bio analysis machine is new to you, it’s generally a good idea to do some practice first. You don’t want to waste a patient’s sample on a failed test due to lack of skill and experience. The bio analysis machine plays a big role in diagnosing patients, after all. Practicing with the bio analysis machine allows your Sim to gain Logic Skill. If your Sim doesn’t have any Logic experience, I would suggest they raise their Logic Skill to at least level 2 before conducting real tests.
Analyze the Patient’s Sample: You’ve had a practice with the bio analysis machine. Now it’s time to use it for real. With a patient’s sample at hand, you can take it to the machine and test it. Select Analyze Patient Sample and you’ll get a list of all untested samples. They will be listed in the order you took swabs, so the last person you took a sample from will be the last one on the list. Testing a sample takes around an in-game hour. At the end, you’ll find out if you were successful or not. Usually, less experienced Sims tend to fail the analysis. The mood your Sim is in can also affect the success of the analysis. If you do find yourself not having much luck with the bio analysis early on, don’t worry. Your Sims will at least gain Logic Skill, and at this stage, they cannot diagnose patients.
One thing that is important to note, if you don’t use a swabbed sample for testing for whatever reason, it will remain in your Sim’s inventory. Samples can be destroyed, but only after they’ve been tested, and they can only be tested at the hospital. Samples cannot be analyzed outside the hospital. This can create a backlog of untested samples that you cannot get rid of, and you can’t simply throw them away. To avoid confusion, remember that the last sample you took will be at the bottom of the list. It’s generally a good idea to test samples when you get them and try to avoid leaving them.
All untested samples can be analysed with the bio analysis machine.
Log Sample Analysis Results: This is a quick task that commonly appears after you have analyzed a sample, whether or not you were successful. It’s a very easy task that is done on a computer, and doesn’t take long. It’s recommended that you do it, even if you want to get on with other tests, as this task won’t disappear from the list otherwise, freeing up room for another task.
Transfer Patient Case: So you’ve had a practice with the bio analysis machine, but you cannot yet diagnose patients yourself. That’s a job for the resident doctor at the hospital. But how do you treat patients that are still under examination? All you need to do is hand it over to the doctor and you’ll be free to treat them. Simply select the patient and use the interaction Transfer Patient Case. You’ll then see a list of your co-workers. Select the doctor and they will get on with diagnosing the patient. Once they have been diagnosed, the option to treat them will appear.
Treat Patient With Medication or Shot: Finally, with all the tests done and the patient diagnosed, the final step before they’re allowed to go is treating them. There are 3 ways to treat a patient in the Doctor career in The Sims 4. You can prescribe them some medication, which they’ll take right away. Your Sim may have to give them a shot. The third option is surgery, but at this early stage, your Sim cannot perform surgery, so you won’t have that to worry about yet. With the patient given their medication or shot, they’ll be on their way. Their departure will free up a bed for a new patient.
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- Sims who are prescribed medication will take it right away.
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- Sims receiving shots don’t look too uncomfortable by the process.
Admitting Patients to Hospital
You may find early on when you’re mainly just treating patients and sending them on their way that there are no patients left to deal with. This can easily happen if you only have a few patients admitted to start with and get through them quite quickly. If you are low on patients, or perhaps in the later levels you are looking for a particular patient with a particular case, what do you do?
The hospital always has Sims coming in with problems, looking to get treated. You can easily spot them as they’ll have a blue heart icon above their head. You won’t see a queue at the front desk at the very start of your shift, but give it an hour or two and they’ll start piling in. There will be so many new sick Sims coming in that you’ll be spoiled for choice. Don’t even bother trying to admit every Sim that comes through the door. You can’t treat them all, not even in your longer shifts. There won’t be enough beds for them all anyway. Just pick at least one Sim to admit and get on with diagnosing them.
As the day goes on, the queue of patients waiting to be admitted will build up.
Waiting arrivals won’t stick around all day. After a few hours, they’ll give up and leave. You’ll get a pop-up message about this, but don’t worry about it too much. Sims who leave won’t impact either your daily performance or overall performance. The only penalty is missing out on a new patient to treat.
When you do want to admit a Sim to hospital, just select them and choose Admit Patient to Exam Bed. Officially admitted patients will never get fed up and leave the hospital, even if they’re kept waiting all day, and again, you won’t get penalised for not treating them.
Diagnosing Patients
So far in your Doctor career, you’ve learned how to do routine tasks around the hospital, keep both patients and staff happy, treat patients, take and analyze samples, and admit new patients to hospital. As your Sim becomes more experienced, their responsibilities grow, to the point that you can now conduct tests on patients to diagnose their illnesses. This is probably the most difficult part of the Doctor career, requiring a lot of work and time, as well as patience. When you’re first allowed to start diagnosing, you start off with simple examinations and analyzing samples, but eventually, you’ll gain the ability to use the x-ray machines and treadmills to better diagnose those tricky cases. There are 4 steps you need to take in order to get a guaranteed diagnosis: running tests, analyzing samples, x-ray scans, and treadmill tests. You already know about analyzing samples, so let’s look at the other three methods:
Running Tests
The first step you should take to diagnosing a patient’s illness is running a few simple examinations. These are found under the category Examine when you select a patient, and they can only be done when a Sim is on an exam bed. Altogether, there are 4 tests you can do: Check Ears, Check Eyes, Scan Body, and Take Temperature. Doing all 4 of these will get you one step nearer to a diagnosis. Once you successfully do a test, it will be greyed out. However, you may have to do it again, so check that all 4 tests are greyed out. The next step after this will be taking a swab for sample.
There is an annoying setback to interacting with patients, whether you’re doing tests, diagnosing, or admitting treatment. Sometimes, co-workers can get in the way, talking to the patient you’re trying to deal with. When they are talking to the patient and you try to interact with the patient, your Sim will complain that their route is blocked, stopping you from doing your job. If this occurs, you either need to wait for the co-worker to move out of the way, or move far away enough so you can Call Over the co-worker and they will move for you.
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- Checking a patient’s ears.
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- Checking a patient’s eyes.
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- Scanning a patient’s body.
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- Taking a patient’s temperature.
X-Ray Machines
After another promotion, you’ll gain access to the x-ray machines. These are a great tool for helping to diagnose patients… when they work. To do a scan on a patient, don’t select the x-ray machine. You need to select the patient and choose Refer for X-Ray Scan under Medical Referral. The patient will amble over to one of the x-ray machines, standing inside. All patients are very cooperative and happily wait for you to complete the scan. It takes about an hour in-game. Most of the time, your Sim will be successful in taking the x-ray, narrowing down the diagnosis. However, they can occasionally mess up, giving them an Embarrassed moodlet. To avoid this happening, make sure your Sim is in a good mood when conducting an x-ray. Once an x-ray has been completed, the patient will automatically be admitted to an exam bed (this can be manually cancelled though).
X-rays are usually successful, especially with experienced Sims in good moods.
X-ray machines can go wrong. Sometimes this happens halfway through a scan, which is less than ideal, and other times the machine is broken when you arrive at the hospital. Fortunately, break downs aren’t that common. If a machine does break down, it’s best to fix it ASAP. This is where having a good Handiness Skill comes in, when your Sim repairs it. If left long enough, one of the other staff will fix it for you. If possible, with the right Handiness level, you can upgrade x-ray machines to make them break less, so do this if it’s available and you have the time.
Occasionally, x-ray machines will need to be Calibrated before use, but not that often. This is meant to improve the chances of a successful scan, so it’s best to do this. This may also appear as a work task.
Calibrating an x-ray machine doesn’t take long.
Treadmill Tests
The final test you can unlock to do on patients is the treadmill test. These treadmills are not like the ones you can buy at home or use at the gym. They are ones specifically for use at the hospital to diagnose patients. Like the x-ray machine, you need to select the patient to Refer to Treadmill Test under Medical Referral, and they’ll make their way over. It takes about an hour to do the test. At the end, your Sim will get the results, and you’ll find out whether or not they were successful and you’re one step closer to finding out what’s wrong with a patient. You may find, especially early on, that your Sims fail the treadmill tests, mainly due to lack of experience. If a treadmill test is your final step in getting that diagnosis and it doesn’t work, do another x-ray scan instead. You could also try the treadmill test again and hopefully be more successful the second time.
Treadmill tests are probably the most fickle and are more likely to fail.
The Stages of Diagnosis
The ultimate goal of a Doctor in The Sims 4 is to diagnose a patient by running tests and then treat them accordingly. The key to this is getting the right diagnosis. Wrongly diagnosing a patient can have consequences, taking a hit on your Sim’s overall work performance. To get the right diagnosis, you need to conduct tests to rule out illnesses. Think of it like a real life doctor, doing tests on patients to narrow down possible illnesses before leading to the right one. You can guess a Sim’s diagnosis, but it’s not recommended. With guess work, you’re more likely to get it wrong. It’s ideal then to get a guaranteed diagnosis.
The Doctor career in The Sims 4 has 4 stages of diagnosis. The further along you get, the more likely a successful diagnosis. To get the best diagnosis, you should do all possible tests, even repeating some if necessary. The four stages are:
No Diagnosis: When you first start examining a patient, there won’t be any diagnoses available. You can’t even guess at this stage because the option isn’t there. You get your first step towards a diagnosis after completing at least one successful test.
Weak Diagnosis: A weak diagnosis appears after a successful first test is done. However, this is not an ideal time to select a diagnosis. In the menu, you’ll be given about 4 or even 5 different diagnoses. Does your Sim require a shot, or just some medication? Will they need surgery? Or is there even anything wrong at all? With such a vague diagnosis, choosing one now is not the best idea. However, getting a weak diagnosis is a good sign that the patient is on their way to a more solid diagnosis, which leads to the next stage…
A weak diagnosis is the earliest time you can attempt to diagnose a patient.
Compelling Diagnosis: A compelling diagnosis is a step up from a weak diagnosis, but not as solid as a guaranteed diagnosis. There’s less to get wrong at this stage, but it’s still a risk. Even choosing between 2 diagnoses doesn’t mean success. A compelling diagnosis gives you 2-3 options to choose from. If you are really struggling with tests to whittle the options down to a guaranteed diagnosis, you can take a guess, but it’s not recommended. Sometimes, you might have only one option in a compelling diagnosis, just like a guaranteed diagnosis. If this is the case, go with the one option.
You have a better chance at diagnosis when it’s compelling, but you can’t be 100% sure.
Guaranteed Diagnosis: You can’t do better than a guaranteed diagnosis. With this, failure isn’t an option, literally. At this stage, only one diagnosis is left, and there’s no more tests you can do, so go for it so you can get on with treating that patient.
With a guaranteed diagnosis, you can’t go wrong.
Different Diagnoses and How to Spot Them
Diagnosing illnesses isn’t easy. Thankfully, The Sims 4 makes it a little easier for you, letting you do lots of tests on patients to whittle down the illnesses to just one. Patients in hospital can have lots of different illnesses – or none at all, in some cases. Getting the diagnosis right is important for giving the patient the right treatment. You don’t want to perform surgery on someone who just needed some medication, or worse, wasn’t ill in the first place! It’s best to do all the tests until the patient has at least a compelling diagnosis. However, there are ways of spotting what illness patients have, if you did want to observe them and diagnose them that way. It means watching the patient closely for symptoms.
Below is a list of all illnesses Sims can get in The Sims 4 Get to Work, their symptoms, and how they are treated. We’ll start with the least severe, until we get to the illnesses that require surgery:
Bloaty Head: A Bloaty Head is not pleasant, but it doesn’t mean that the Sim’s head will look physically swollen. Instead, the Sim will act as if they have an unpleasant headache, putting their hand to their head which visibly pulsates. Sims with Bloaty Head can also get feverish, which is represented by steam coming out of their ears. These two symptoms make spotting Bloaty Head quite easy, and it’s treated just as equally with a simple shot.
Sweaty Shivers: As the name of this illness implies, Sims with Sweaty Shivers get a fever, so look out for Sims who look and act hot. These Sims may also feel the urge to itch, another thing to look out for, but the big giveaway is the spotty rash all over their body, which won’t be hard to miss. A good old-fashioned shot will cure any Sim of this infliction.
Gas-and-Giggles: The name says it all: this Sim will have gas, and it will make them giggly. But with all that gas and giggling, it does cause the sufferer to experience stomach aches. Another visible indicator are stripy rashes all over their body. A quick dose of medicine will fix this.
Starry Eyes: This illness is actually quite easy to identify, with the swirly stars circling the Sim’s head and them looking as if they’re going to fall over. This easy-to-spot illness is also easy to cure. A prescription for medication will put this right.
Llama Flu: This is another illness that has symptoms relating to its name. Sims with this will cough and sneeze frequently, and may also display signs of a fever. This is one for the shot.
Itchy Plumbob: We’re now getting to the illnesses that require surgery to put these Sims right, since a dose of medication or a shot isn’t enough to cure them. The symptoms are as you would expect; your Sims scratching themselves, and they’ll also be overcome with giggliness. The rashes all over the Sim’s body is a dead giveaway as well. With the symptoms, it might be easy to mistake Itchy Plumbob with Sweaty Shivers or Gas-and-Giggles, so watch out if you’re trying to guess without a solid diagnosis.
The Triple Threat: This is another one where the operating table is needed. The Triple Threat has quite a lot of symptoms to look out for. These Sims can be dizzy, cough a lot, sneeze a lot, and have an itchy rash. Again, this is one that can be mistaken for one of the other illnesses, so conduct tests to make sure.
Burnin’ Belly: Burnin’ Belly doesn’t sound like a lot of fun, with these Sims complaining of stomach ache, not to mention a fever. A quick trip to the operating theater will sort this one out.
No Illness: Sometimes, Sims come into hospital thinking they’re ill, and they’re not, as it turns out. This doesn’t happen very often, but if you’re not sure that a Sim is ill or not, it’s best to be safe and do the necessary tests to rule anything out.
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- Some illnesses come with a noticeable rash.
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- Look out for thought bubbles above sick Sim’s head for further clues on symptoms and illnesses.
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- In the instance of this Sim, there are a lot of signs pointing to a fever.
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- Dizzy Sims are easy to spot with the spinning stars around their head.
Performing Surgery
The last activity that you get to unlock in the Doctor career is the ability to perform surgery. You can only do surgery on Sims with certain diagnosed illnesses, which are Itchy Plumbob, The Triple Threat, and Burnin’ Belly. Once your Sim has been diagnosed with one of these three illnesses, the option to Perform Surgery appears under Treat Patient.
Your Sim and the patient will make their way to one of the operating theaters. The patient will lie down while your Sim performs surgery. You don’t need to do anything here; you just let the game do the rest of the work. The time it takes to perform surgery can vary. Sometimes it takes hardly any time at all, maybe half an hour. Other times, it can take about an hour, longer even, depending on the operation and how successful your Sim is. The patient cannot die or go into cardiac arrest or anything like that, so don’t worry about those sort of things! The patient is also quite happy to let you get on with it. This is The Sims 4, so it’s not going to be anything ultra realistic or gory. Once the operation is done, the patient will get up and leave the hospital.
Certain illnesses can only be treated with surgery.
You’ll also get to use the operating tables in two different emergency events. One for a pregnant Sim giving birth, the other for a Sim arriving and needing urgent surgery. Simply select them and they’ll be taken straight to theater. We’ll go into emergency events next in this guide.
Another thing to note: if your Sim goes into labor and you choose for them to go to hospital, they’ll be operated on just like any patient.
Emergency Events
When you’re working at the hospital, the unexpected can happen. As you’re going about your rounds, you might suddenly be met with an emergency of some kind. This can take many forms. Sometimes it takes place at the hospital, but other times, you may have to leave the hospital to visit other Lots to deal with an emergency. This doesn’t happen every shift, but it’s something to be aware of.
It should be noted that not all events are guaranteed to happen. For example, on one or two occasions, the Collapsed Sim task was added to the list, but the Sim in question never arrived, so the event didn’t happen. This is probably a bug, so it’s best to be aware of this happening.
There are quite a few events that can happen. Let’s take a closer look at them:
Collapsed Sim: After you’ve unlocked the ability to use the operating table, this event will occasionally come up. A Sim will enter the hospital and collapse in the reception. This Sim requires urgent surgery, so don’t hesitate to take them straight to the operating theater. The operation doesn’t take that long and the Sim will leave good as new. This event is ideal for promotional requirements where you need to perform surgery on a certain number of patients.
Sometimes, a Sim wanders into reception and collapses onto the floor. They’ll need a quick trip to the operating theater.
Pregnant Sim: Not only does this event appear after your Sim is allow to perform surgery, but it will most likely appear in one of the Doctor career levels that requires you to deliver a baby. A heavily pregnant Sim will arrive in the reception, ready to give birth, and it’s down to you to deliver the baby in the operating theater. Again, this is a quick procedure, and quite a special one at that.
Look out for a pregnant Sim arriving at the hospital.
Analyze Data Samples: Possibly quite early on in the Doctor career, you may get notified that someone wants you to analyze and write up a report on a bunch of samples for data purposes. The first step is to collect the samples from the front desk. With these now on your Sim, you can take them to the bio analysis machine. The data samples are distinguishable from the other samples taken from patients. The patient’s samples are white, while the data samples are green. There should also be more than one to analyze. Analyze all the data samples, and once that’s done, write up the report on the computer to complete this event.
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- The first step is collecting the samples from the front desk.
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- The final step after analysing the samples is to send off the results.
House Call: This particular event comes up quite frequently. Sometimes, your Sim will be asked to pay a visit to a Lot outside the hospital to treat some sick Sims. Select the front desk to travel to the Lot. Once you’re there, look out for the sick Sims to examine and treat. There should be 3, and they’ll all have heart icons above their head. When you first get there, they may be outside the Lot, then go about doing things at the Lot, such as watching TV, chatting, messing around on the computer, etc.
There are 2 steps to dealing with a house call. First, select the Sim and choose Examine (both the patient and the doctor will be standing up for this). Once that’s done, the option to treat them will appear. Make sure to treat all 3 Sims, and you’ll get notified that you’re done. You should now head back to the hospital. To do this, select the ground (not your Sim) and choose Return to Hospital. From there, your work day will resume as normal.
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- A house call is initiated from the front desk.
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- Examine the sick Sims first…
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- … then give them the medicine to make them better.
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- The option to Return to Hospital appears when selecting the ground.
Outbreak: Outbreaks work similarly to house calls. Your Sim will once again have to visit another Lot and treat the sick Sims there before returning to the hospital.
All Levels in the Doctor Career
Let’s go through every level in the Doctor career in The Sims 4. Altogether there are 10. We’ll take you through every level, what to expect, and changes from the previous position.
Medical Intern
Salary: §18 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Friday, Saturday
Work Hours: 7am – 3pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Attend 2 active work days at the hospital
Your Sim starts out as a Medical Intern. To get promoted, you need to follow your Sim to work on two days. Make sure to do all the tasks in the list. At this very early stage, they’re all very simple. You won’t be diagnosing patients or performing surgery yet, but work hard and you will be very soon.
Sims starting in the Doctor career spend the day cleaning and meeting co-workers and patients.
Orderly
Salary: §23 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Saturday
Work Hours: 7am – 3pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Treat 2 patients
Promotion Rewards: §192, New Clothes, Doctor Xavier’s Ray Display, Not So Blind Eye Chart
At this stage, your Sim will be doing less menial tasks around the hospital, now able to run simple tests, take swab samples from patients and treat them. Diagnosing isn’t in your power yet though. You need another promotion or two before that becomes your next responsibility.
Analysing samples aren’t always successful.
Medical Assistant
Salary: §35 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
Work Hours: 8am – 4pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Treat 3 patients
Promotion Rewards: §256, x-ray machines now available to use, the Give Medical Advice interaction is unlocked, the Give Bad Medical Advice interacted is unlocked (at Mischief Skill level 3)
You can finally use those cool-looking x-ray machines to further help with diagnoses, and your Sim has gained enough experience to be able to give out medical advice. You cannot yet diagnose patients. You need a little more experience and authority for that.
X-ray scans are unlocked at level 3 of the Doctor career.
Medical Technologist
Salary: §49 per hour
Work Days: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday
Work Hours: 9am – 5pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Successfully Diagnose and Treat a Patient
Promotion Rewards: §312, New Clothes, Defeat the Darkness Surgical Light, can now use medical treadmills
Your Sim is stepping up in the medical profession. They have now been trusted to diagnose patients without a doctor present. They can now use the treadmills, which means they have everything they need to diagnose patients. At this stage, treadmill tests are more likely to fail, but don’t worry; these tests can be quite fickle.
Child patients aren’t able to do a treadmill test.
Assistant Nurse
Salary: §68 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday
Work Hours: 6am – 4pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Successfully Diagnose and Treat 2 Patients
Promotion Rewards: §384, Restless Thankless Medical Stool, can now use operating tables, the Check Hotness interaction is unlocked under Romantic socials
At every promotion, your Sim is given more and more responsibility, to the point that they can now perform surgery! Note that from this point on, your Sim has one less work day, working 4 days instead of 5. However, the work days are longer now. Your Sim will be at work for 10 hours, compared to 7 or 8 hours, so make sure you don’t neglect your Sim’s Needs.
Sims can operate on patients at level 5 of the Doctor career.
R.N.
Salary: §95 per hour
Work Days: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
Work Hours: 7am – 5pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Successfully Diagnose and Treat 3 Patients
Promotion Rewards: §576, Doctor of Medicine Diploma, can now determine a baby’s gender on pregnant Sims
This is a step up from the last job title. You’ll be kept busy diagnosing and treating patients to get that next promotion.
At level 6, your Sims earn a diploma they can hang on their wall.
Doctor – General Practitioner
Salary: §135 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Work Hours: 8am – 6pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Perform Surgery on 3 Patients
Promotion Rewards: §816, New Clothes, Seat of Health
Getting the next promotion isn’t going to be easy. You need to perform not one, not two, but three surgeries on patients! Finding 3 patients to operate on will be tricky, but not impossible. Look out for patients with the 3 illnesses that require surgery: Burnin’ Belly, Triple Threat, and Itchy Plumbob. Watch out for the symptoms of these illnesses, or if you’re not sure, get busy running those tests. As you narrow down the final diagnosis, if it looks unlikely to be one of the 3 surgery-required illnesses, leave it and focus on another patient. You might also get lucky and have a collapsed Sim arrive at the hospital needing surgery.
This Sim has two possible diagnoses, one that requires surgery.
Medical Specialist
Salary: §195 per hour
Work Days: Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Friday
Work Hours: 9am – 7pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Deliver a Baby
Promotion Rewards: §1,136, The Diligent Doctor’s Desk, Sickness Resistance Trait
After what you needed to do for that last promotion, you might think things are going to get harder. You can relax. This time, you just need to deliver a baby. There is a catch to this though. Baby deliveries are an emergency event at the hospital, so you’ll have to wait for the opportune moment. Saying that, after getting promoted to this level, when your Sim next goes into work, a pregnant Sim should show up at the hospital, getting this task done quickly.
At this level, after being around all those sick patients, your Sim will become resistant to illness thanks to the Sickness Resistance reward trait.
It shouldn’t take long for a pregnant Sim to show up at the hospital.
Surgeon
Salary: §245 per hour
Work Days: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday
Work Hours: 9am – 7pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Requirements: Successfully Diagnose and Treat 5 Patients
Promotion Rewards: §1,496, Skelly Sim
You’re almost there! There’s just one final big push. You must diagnose and treat 5 patients – successfully – before that final promotion is yours. The good news is that you can treat any Sims at this stage, so long as you give them the right diagnosis and treatment. However, if you want to make things a little easier, focus on treating children. The reason for this is because they cannot use the treadmills, which gives one less test to worry about. Plus, children cannot be operated on, making treatment much quicker as well.
For that last promotion, get busy diagnosing and treating patients.
Chief of Staff
Salary: §280 per hour
Work Days: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday
Work Hours: 9am – 7pm
Ideal Mood: Focused
Promotion Rewards: §1,720, General Hospital Styled Room, Patients Are a Virtue achievement
Congratulations! You’re now running the show at the hospital and are at the top of your game. You get a special Doctor-themed Styled Room as a reward, not to mention the achievement for making it to the top of the Doctor career. Feel free to carry on working at the hospital, treating new patients and dealing with emergencies.
The General Hospital Styled Room, only available to Sims who make it to the top of the Doctor career.
Final Tips for the Doctor Career
As we wrap up this guide for the Doctor career in The Sims 4, I’ll leave you with some final tips:
- If you are planning to go into work on an active day, make sure that ALL Needs are in the green. Doctors have long shifts, and if you’re busy dealing with patients or working towards that next promotion, low Needs can be a hindrance. Sims with low bladder will walk slower, for example, and your Sim will waste time complaining that they’re hungry, lonely, smelly, or bored. Plus, the last thing you want is your Sim falling asleep at work! You can deal with these Needs at work, but you’ll be taking precious time away from treating patients, so it’s best to have max Needs before you leave home.
- You can guess a Sim’s diagnosis, but if you’re really not sure, it’s better to do all the tests possible. If a test goes wrong, do it again or try another if possible. Ideally, you want to do the following: run tests, analyze sample, do x-ray scan, and do treadmill test. The success of these tests will lead to a guaranteed diagnosis.
- If your Sim becomes Embarrassed following a failed test, it’s best to deal with this mood first. Sims with negative moods don’t tend to be successful doctors and become distracted. The same applies if your Sim becomes Uncomfortable due to low Needs. Get the Need to at least yellow before continuing.
- Especially in later levels, Doctors have a lot of days off, working 4 days and then having 3 off. To improve at work, it’s a good idea to work on your Sim’s Logic Skill. The Handiness Skill is also ideal for upgrading the x-ray machines, plus your Sim will get faster at fixing broken machines.
- All promotion requirements need you to go into work actively to complete the tasks. However, if you have done all the tasks required and just need a performance bump, you don’t necessarily need to go into work. So long as your Sim goes to work in a good mood with fulfilled Needs and they don’t slack off, they’ll still get promoted.
