Whether you are chronically ill and practically a professional patient, or simply see your PCP every so often or specialist for that one health issue; preparing to get the most out of your appointment can be daunting. Often enough, patients usually find themselves leaving appointments with more forgotten questions than answers to what they truly need. Here are some of my personal tips to mitigate that.
Pre-appointment preparation
- verify time and date of your appointment – some doctors will want you there 15-30 minutes before the appointment actually is. Typically this is to fill out paperwork and account for the doctors running behind schedule. I always personally aim to be able 10-15 minutes early unless asked to come earlier or specifically on time.
- Account for traffic/transportation at the time of day of your appointment – is your appointment at 8:00 am in the morning? Is it close or do you have to battle traffic to get there? Is it during rush hour? How are you getting there? All questions you should answer before either scheduling the appointment or the day before the appointment.
- Expect to fill out generalized paperwork. – this typically includes insurance information, a review of systems, your PCP information if seeing a specialist, main complaints/why you are at the appointment in the first place, pharmacy information, current medication list, and current symptoms. Make sure you have all of this information on hand and ready.
- Water – always bring water, regardless of where you are going
- a notebook, pen/pencil, and any current labs if the specific doctor has not seen them, did not order them, and the labs are related to the specialty. The notebook and pen are to record important information, have questions written down to ask, and general updates for the practitioner pertaining your condition.
- Top three issues – this ensures that you stay on track with your practitioner, and that you remember to ask and get answers for all your symptoms and questions. This focuses the appointment overall.
- a mask, especially if immunocompromised
During the appointment
- start with health updates – this could be improvements, drugs that are helping, overall feelings, things that have not been working, concerns.
- be HONEST – if things are getting worse or you have a concern, EXPRESS THIS. “I’m okay” or “I’m fine” are NOT good enough answers if you are having symptoms and things that are problematic.
- focus the appointment on your top three list – start with the most pressing issue, this should be the number one reason you are there.
- advocate advocate ADVOCATE – you are the ONLY person that knows what your body feels like. You are the expert on your own body. If something feels very wrong, PRESS ON THIS ISSUE.
- take notes on any med changes, medical advice, or new diagnosis – hence forth bringing a journal.
- if possible make sure to get a visit summary and doctors notes – this should go into a binder of visit summaries, or doctors notes, so that you can refer to them if need be in the future.
- ask questions – doctors speak medicine and have to translate to what they call “living room language” for the general population. This isn’t because the general population is dumb or stupid or beneath the level of intellect of a doctor. It is because we haven’t dedicated years of our lives to learning this language and then practicing it. So if something is not understood, ask them to explain again differently. ASK questions about the diagnosis, the medications, the prognosis. You are literally paying this person to give you the best medical advice possible, this includes explaining said advice and answering questions about it in a way YOU understand.
- If you have done research into something you think you might have, don’t be afraid to ask about it – a lot of diseases, especially autoimmune, take a long time to diagnosis. We are talking 6+ years on average. If the doctor refuses to look into it and you still feel strongly that there is something there, call them out on it. How? ask them to state in his/her note that they are choosing not to look into the possibility of a certain illness or run a certain panel of tests. More often than not they will change their mind quickly and just run the test.
- At the end of the appointment – so long as the doctor isn’t a total jerk to you but even so, thank them for their time. Thank them for seeing you.
Post appointment
- Review the visit summary and doctors notes on your appointment
- pick up or drop off any prescription medications
- research any new diagnosis
- get labs done if labs were ordered
The Sleepy Chemist 