In the beginning of my health journey, a sure way for me to evaporate my IQ into inaccessible vapour was to not write things down. I remember walking into a neurologist’s practice, I was nervous, but I had questions for him – I looked at him and forgot them all. Worse, was in my futile attempt to retrieve my questions, I didn’t concentrate properly on the information he was giving me. In the end I left with more questions and less understanding of my situation than when I had entered the practice – and that really wasn’t the doctor’s fault at all. It was a rubbish feeling.
Along the way I have met so many other patients who have experienced the same vaporisation of their IQ’s. I have not met any patients who have escaped the resultant frustration. And so, along the way I learnt the vital importance of notes and came up with a Preparation Checklist. It has saved my IQ many times! Here it is:
Write down your understanding of your problem in your own words
This is really valuable. It’s a great start to help you formulate questions to ask your doctor. Additionally, when he asks you what you are experiencing you can simply read your notes to him – win! This will help your doctor to give you information he realises you need without you having known you need it.
Write no more than 5 questions to ask
Avoid taking essays in with you. I did this and it was not helpful. Firstly the important questions were lost in the surrounding verbiage. Secondly, it wasted time rummaging through so many words to extract what was needed. So, figure out 5 questions that will cover the general information you would like. You can capture responses during the consultation. This helps give structure to the whole consultation – for you and your doctor.
Ask questions during the consultation
At the top of a blank page write the header: Consultation Questions
Sometimes for a doctor it’s frustrating when a patient bullets questions at them, when they know the answers will become apparent during their coming explanation. Mention to your doctor that you’re going to write down questions during the consultation and then, at the end ask the unanswered ones. This often optimises time and your capacity to understand what is happening. It also gives the doctor a good idea of whether or not he did a good just explaining things to you in a clear way.
Prescriptions and Treatments
At the top of another blank page write the header: Prescription and treatments
Often your doctor is going to prescribe some sort of treatment for you at the end of the consultation. Remember, as much as your doctor is responsible for the treatment he recommends, you are responsible for your own body and this includes receiving treatment. Know exactly the ‘what’ and ‘why’ of each treatment prescribed. If your pharmacist asks what a medication is for, you should be able to tell him, not just mutter “I don’t know. The doctor told me to take it”. Similarly, if a treatment such as physiotherapy is prescribed, know enough to answer in your own words the reasons for the treatment. You know your body better than anybody else – make sure you can explain your experience of your body in your own words.
Remember: Just like you, your doctor is a human
Despite the impressive number of certificates hanging on your doctor’s wall, remember he is firstly human, and then doctor: the same as you are a human and then a patient. Respect should be a non-negotiable quality between humans. With that acknowledged, simply talk to your doctor as another fellow human, don’t be intimidated by the fancy things on his business card. Motor mechanics provide a service. And, most of us would have no problem chatting to our mechanic about a dodgy engine noise and how he plans to fix it. Your doctor is also providing you a service, except your body is the thing with a dodgy problem. So, your doctor is kind of a ‘human body mechanic’. Be respectful, don’t be intimidated. Ask questions: Not only are you allowed to, but you should, because your body belongs to you, not to medical science.
So, there you have it, my recipe to consultation sanity!
I hope it helps you!
Alice
Comments