Tips for Dealing with Doctors

[Sangye]

These are some tips I used to give my patients to help them deal with all their doctors. I hope they help!

General Notes
1) The patient’s job is to report symptoms, ask questions, follow instructions and express their needs. The doctor’s job is to make sense of the symptoms and treat accordingly, answer questions, give clear instructions and respond to the patient’s needs.

2) The history is the single most important part leading to a proper diagnosis. It’s also where the majority of medical mistakes occur—important symptoms are ignored, questions are not asked, etc.... Be actively involved when the doctor is taking your history. It's hard to get that chance back later. If you don't feel they're listening, reiterate it. If a symptom is very concerning to you, tell them; don't assume they'll take it seriously otherwise.

3) Regulary get copies of your records. The unbelievable errors you will find get copied into future records. That can lead to a misdiagnosis, or can cause a doctor to begin with the wrong impression about you.

4) Bring a small voice recorder to each doctor appointment or when the doctor sees you in the hospital. You won’t have to memorize as much, and you can review the information several times.

5) You’re not wasting the doctor’s time with your questions. You are quite likely saving your life.

Questions to ask before doing diagnostic tests :
1) What test do you want to order? (write it down)

2) How will the result change your decision-making? (A doctor should never, ever order a diagnostic test unless the results will change their actions.)

3) How is the test done? What are the side-effects and risks? How do the benefits outweigh the risks?

4) Are there less-invasive alternatives?

Questions to ask for any diagnosis :
1) What’s the name? (write it down)

2) What caused it?

3) What’s the treatment? What are the risks and side effects? Are there alternatives?

4) What’s the prognosis?

5) How certain are you that I have it? What else could it be?

6) What is your experience with treating this? (uncomfortable to ask, but necessary)

7) Where can I find more information about it?

[andrew]

Great post Sangye, thank you!

Gonna make it a 'sticky'.

[Doug]

I can agree more with this post! I would like to add one more recommendation, though. Your doctor (or doctors) see you for such a brief time each day you are hospitalized, even less once you are turned loose. Especially in hospital, add nursing staff to your list of helpers. They have more (if not a lot) time to hear what's going on with you. Think of them as your best ally when you feel your doctor or doctors seem to be moving in the wrong direction, for example, or you are. Talking "doctor" isn't easy at first. You may not feel you are getting through to them, but your nurse generally can help you formulate your questions. I had some problems with medication for pain, making my doctors feel I was delusional at one point in my hospitalization. (Could it have been my "belief" that all Christian were essentially Lurtheran or that all languages were related to Dutch and that I could speak Dutch, a language that I never studied but is similar to German, which I have? Haw! I'm sure these may have contributed to the doctors' delusions about me!) It was nursing staff that told me doctors felt I needed a visit to the mental ward and warned me. The warning helped me pull my "normal" act together, which became much easier to maintain once my medications were adjusted at a later date. I no longer "believe" the Lutheran or Dutch things, which makes for a generally happier life!

[Sangye]

Could it have been my "belief" that all Christian were essentially Lutheran or that all languages were related to Dutch and that I could speak Dutch

That is absolutely hysterical. One time I tried Ambien for insomnia. In the middle of the night, I found myself sitting up in bed counting my tentacles. It seemed absolutely reasonable until I remembered it the next morning. When I told one of my docs (who had a great sense of humor), she paused and asked, "So...how many did you have?"

[andrew]

That is absolutely hysterical. One time I tried Ambien for insomnia. In the middle of the night, I found myself sitting up in bed counting my tentacles. It seemed absolutely reasonable until I remembered it the next morning. When I told one of my docs (who had a great sense of humor), she paused and asked, "So...how many did you have?"

Yes, I know how you feel. I always lose track of the tentacle I started at and can never get an accurate count done.

[CODavid]

Good stuff: I would like to add:

Prepare for the visit:
Take a list of active medications
Write down what you want to talk about or need to report

When you are there:
Don't be in a rush, slow down and activily particpate

After stuff:
Make notes of what occured
Attempt to set up out of appointment communications with the docs. I send mine an a weekly e-mail of my sypmtoms.

David