Pre-consultation guidelines

Many people think that all they have to do is go to the doctor and tell him or her their complaints (at least the ones they can think of at the time of the consultation) so that he or she can quickly reach a diagnosis and prescribe a treatment. It's a mistake... After all, if we're all looking for good advice and a course of action that will lead to optimum results, a successful treatment needs to be as accurate and feasible as possible given the individual needs of each patient; to be accurate, however, it needs to be based on appropriate diagnostic hypotheses; and these are only possible when the data the doctor has access to is of high quality: complete, detailed and reliable.

Where does this data come from? Part of it comes from the patient's physical examination (when applicable and to the extent necessary), part comes from complementary tests, but without a shadow of a doubt, the most important part comes from the patient's report (sometimes also from their companions), from the story they tell the doctor.

And of course there are good and bad professionals in any field (more or less available, more or less interested in you, more or less “rushed”, more or less capable in their fields, more or less humane and even more or less happy with what they do), patients who give better or worse information and even examinations of greater or lesser quality or suitability for each case. But one point is unanimous and decisive in all of this: it is the quality of the information that is crucial to the success of your treatment, for the benefit of your health!

So here are some tips to help you make your appointment more productive and thus help your doctor take better care of your health:

✅ Get to know your healthcare professional

Talk to people who have already consulted with him, look for information, search the internet... And if he has published material or even a website, read more about how he works, his articles, his ideas and conduct.

In my case, I often joke with my patients that many of them wouldn't have needed to see me in person if they had read and followed the guidelines in the dozens of free health articles available on my website https://icaro.med.br/

✅ Write down your complaints and take your notes to the appointment

Don't rely solely on your memory, as you're bound to forget a lot of important things at the time of the consultation. Try to divide them, for example, into more and less important, more and less current and in chronological order of appearance. And, of course, factors of improvement and worsening are always relevant.

✅ Bring your most recent exams

This saves time and can make further tests less necessary, advance the prescription and better guide management.

✅ Take your medicines and supplements

Take them with you, or at least the labels, or the names, dosages and forms of use.

✅ Speak up and get all your questions answered

Although it is possible to contact them afterwards by e-mail, telephone, social networks and the like, the best time to report and clarify doubts is during the consultation. So ask and discuss.

✅ Return

Treatment presupposes follow-up, and that's impossible if you don't go back to the doctor to tell him how you got on and how you're doing. Basically, take notes: what you did (what you were advised to do), what got better, what got worse, what stayed the same and reports of new symptoms - as well as the results of any additional tests that were ordered.

✅ If you can't make it, let us know or reschedule

If your professional is that good, believe me: other patients could benefit from the position you can't fill at the moment.

In large part, I believe that the content of this article refers to detailed clinical assessment by health professionals in general.

And for all that: cheers!

Cheers,
Dr. Ícaro Alves Alcântara