It is a typical example of how to organise a structured examination answer for medical students and physicians when they are challenged with a question.
[1] It is also a way of constructing answers to questions from patients and their relatives in a logical manner, and structuring articles and reference texts in medicine.
Some textbooks put emphasis on using the surgical sieve as a basic structure of diagnosis and management of illnesses.
In some episodes various forms of the surgical sieve are scribbled on to House's whiteboard while his team struggle to diagnose difficult cases.
In the episode 'Paternity' the mnemonic 'MIDNIT' is used to run through the sieve (metabolic, inflammation, degenerative, neoplastic, infection, trauma).