Sometimes, going to the doctor can be a frustrating experience. You’re sick, you don’t feel well, or you have some other concern. Then, you go in to see the doctor, and you walk away feeling unsatisfied. Maybe you forgot to mention something, maybe he prescribed you something you’re not entirely comfortable with, or maybe you just don’t feel like he listened to and addressed all of your concerns. (note: I’m using “he” as a generic term to refer to the doctor, because he/she is cumbersome and kind of annoying to read, not because I’m a sexist who thinks only men can be doctors) Even if you have a wonderful relationship with your primary care physician, going in to been seen isn’t always easy and stress-free.
It doesn’t have to be this way. When you go to the doctor, you should walk away feeling helped and satisfied. After all, you are paying for a service, even if it’s through your health insurance. If you weren’t happy with the food you got at a restaurant, or you had your kitchen remodeled and the team did a poor job, you’d make them make it right or get your money back to go somewhere else, wouldn’t you? So why shouldn’t the service you get from your doctor’s office be the same way?
There are four things you can do to make your doctor’s visit more productive and satisfying. Actually, there are probably more, and I’d love to hear any suggestions you have, but I have four to share with you now. Here they are.
Bring Notes
This is something that a lot of people don’t do, and then these same people kick themselves as they walk out of the office because they forgot to mention something that was important. Don’t be one of these people. Before you go to the doctor’s office, get a piece of paper or a note card or something, and write down everything that’s relevant. And I mean everything. Here’s a list of things to get you started:
- symptoms you’re experiencing – you want to make sure that you tell the doctor everything that’s going on with you so they give you the right diagnosis and the right treatment
- medications you’re taking, including over-the-counter and vitamin supplements – most of the time, when the doctor asks what medications you’re on, you tell him anything you have a prescription for and leave out the multivitamin or the Tylenol you started taking for the headache he’s seeing you for. Make sure you mention everything you’ve taken in the last couple of days or so, and yes, this includes illegal substances or excessive drinking.
- concerns you have – maybe your sister just got over having mono, or you need to keep working and can’t take a medication that will make you drowsy
- questions you want to ask – this one is kind of self-explanatory
You might feel silly walking into the doctor’s office with a notepad. Don’t. More than likely, rather than judging you, the staff will be thankful that you came in so prepared, because it makes their jobs easier too. And you won’t get a prescription to treat something you don’t actually have because you forgot to mention a couple of symptoms.
Ask Questions
To a lot of us, the doctor seems almost like God. He has the power of healing and the prescription pad in his hands, while we’re mere mortals who need him to fix our ailments and give us what we need to make us better again. I think part of this stems from the awe we feel as children going to the doctor; even more than mom and dad, we have to do what this person in a white coat tells us to do. There’s no bargaining our way out of a shot. So we get into this habit as kids, taking the doctor’s word as law and never questioning his authority.
Some of us are even a little bit afraid of the doctor. We go in, mumble out our concerns without making eye-contact, then passively accept anything he says to do or to take without saying another word. This is really inefficient. We may end up having to go back to see him once or twice, maybe even three times, before everything gets all straightened out for us, all the while feeling mildly confused and intimidated, not to mention frustrated and sick.
Don’t be afraid to ask questions. If you don’t understand what the doctor is talking about, say so! Ask him to clarify, or explain in more detail. If he gives you a prescription or some kind of instructions to follow at home, ask why. Ask about side effects and how long the medicine will take to start working and what to expect. Ask when and if you should come back in and see him. Speak up! The more questions you ask, the more information you’ll have, and the more in control you’ll feel during your treatment. You’ll know what to do when something goes wrong, what you should watch out for and avoid, and you won’t feel like you’re being dictated to. Trust me, it’ll feel good.
Treat The Doctor Like A Partner
Despite our almost instinctive feelings of awe, we need to treat our relationship with the doctor like a partnership. Like I mentioned before, don’t be afraid of asking questions. The doctor is not your mother or your boss, and you don’t have to do everything he says without questioning his authority. It’s your health and your body in question here, not his, and you should treat it that way.
So, don’t let the doctor push decisions on you that you aren’t comfortable with. If he insists that it’s necessary, ask for explanations and alternatives. Remember than you can always get a second opinion, or change doctors entirely if the relationship isn’t working out. You should feel able to trust and confide in your doctor, and feel confident in his treatment of you. If this isn’t the case, you should look for a new doctor.
However, treating the doctor as your partner in treatment rather than the only one making decisions means that you’re going to have to take more responsibility yourself. When you agree to a treatment plan with your doctor, you have to follow through with it. And when your doctor asks you questions, you need to be honest in the answers you give. As a partnership, it means both of you have an obligation to do your part; it’s not just on his shoulders.
Explore All Options
Finally, don’t be afraid to explore all of the options available to you. In the spirit of asking questions and having a dialogue with your doctor rather than just letting him do all of the talking, ask what options there are for your treatment. If you’re comfortable with the ideas of natural remedies or alternative therapies, such as acupuncture and homeopathy, ask about those. Find out what different medications there are available to you, what the side effects are of each, and make an informed decision. Find out what you can do to help your treatment along, like dietary and lifestyle changes, and what other therapies and treatments you can try, like going to a massage therapist or physical therapy. The more involved and informed you are in your treatment options, the more complete and successful your treatment will be.
What have your experiences been with doctors, good and bad? What have you tried that has been successful in making things easier, and what hasn’t worked so well? What other recommendations do you have?
– photo by SarahMcD, courtesy of Flickr
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This is a topic near and dear to my heart. First of all, I agree that you should research your symptoms before heading off to see the doctor. I also recommend that you always carry a list of medications you are taking on a card in your purse or wallet; how often you take it and the dosage. It's a good idea to know when you started the medication and what for. I also agree you should take a list of questions and your symptoms; and write down what he/she tells you. As for experiences at the doctor's office, I have had the best and the worst. My advice is that if you live in the Central Valley of California and are critically ill, find a doctor that you can see out of town (my choice is Sansum Clinic in Santa Barbara). If you do have to have a doctor in the Valley, do a lot of research before entrusting your care to him/her. My best experience with a doctor was at UCLA – the Heart/Lung Transport Dept. The head of the dept spent 1 1/2hrs explaining and answering questions. Imagine, 1 1/2 hrs with your doctor's full attention! Felt fantastic. My doctor at Sansom Clinic is much the same. He will stay with you as long as you need him to, and you can call him ANYTIME and actually speak to him – even after hours. Then we have my Valley doctor. I walk in, sit down, he comes in and asks what is wrong, I give him my best guess and he writes out a script. No examination. Works fine if you have enough experience to know your own body but you're in trouble if it turns out to be cancer! It's really important to take responsibility for your health and that includes your medical care. Doctors are not gods. Too many of the older generation (older than me, thank you) believe anything the doctor says. My mother in law had hip replacement surgery and came out fantastic! Two days later her GP told her she had gallstones and wouldn't survive the surgery – so she died. Sorry so long winded
Your doctors at UCLA and Sansum sound good… your Valley doctor, not so much. If I were you, I'd switch to seeing someone else. I've had some better luck with doctors in Family Healthcare Network and even some through Adventist health, but I think it all depends on the clinic you go to. The one here in town I visit is actually pretty good.
To an extent, I agree on researching your symptoms. More, I think you should just make a complete list of them and then talk to your doctor (if you trust him or her, anyway), because WebMD and the like can convince you of all sorts of things.
I think the article reminds us again of the simple things to do to improve a practice. I’ve yet to see a doctor (or personally) receive a patient’s anger for being late or bad things happening around the office. Patients yell at just about anyone and everyone except the doctor. So I agree with the Doc being the calming influence around the office.Also, this brings up the consumer vs. patient debate. I don’t know if they are mutually exclusive, but I don’t like the idea of “consumer” because if the company doesn’t give you what you want, you go somewhere else. Well, I’m sure that my refusal to hand out antibiotics for sinus infections, colds, and earaches may cost me a few patients (maybe ones that I wouldn’t want in my practice anyway or maybe it’s just that I do a poor job of convincing people they don’t need them [usually], thanks standard of care!)
You bring up an excellent counter-point to this argument here. I don’t like the idea of patient-as-consumer as you describe it here, but I DO think that the patient reserves the right to take their “business” elsewhere if for some reason they’re unhappy with their doctor. It’s not the doctor’s job to make the patient happy by giving them whatever they want, but it is the doctor’s job to make the patient comfortable with the decisions made, to explain the reasoning behind the decisions, and to try to make the patient happy by treating them with care, concern, and consideration. Some doctors don’t do this, or expect their patients to simply do as they say because “they’re the doctor.” These are the cases that I advise people to look elsewhere for their care. Thanks so much for stopping by and commenting from the doctor’s perspective.