Talking with your doctor

Definition

Talking with your doctor is perhaps the most important element in receiving safe, effective health care.

Purpose

In order to judge which tests to order, medication to prescribe, or surgery to recommend, your doctor needs to know about you as a person, your health problems, how they affect your life, and how you feel. You have a responsibility to be open and honest with your doctor and your doctor has a responsibility to carefully listen to you.

Description

You tell your mechanic what problems your car has and then trust that he can fix them, and you need to be able to tell your doctor how your body or mind are working so that you can trust her to help you function and feel better. Talking with your doctor can be difficult. Many doctors seem preoccupied, in a hurry, and are not good listeners. And patients, especially seniors, fear being judged negatively because of their physical infirmities and problems, age, size, looks, personal habits or behaviors.

Establishing trust

Your doctor works for you. In a sense, doctor-patient relationships are similar to spousal relationships. Trust relationships take time to build. It is crucial that seniors find doctors they can talk with. When changing doctors, it's a good idea to make a get-acquainted appointment to review your records and health history and see whether that doctor is someone you might want to trust your life with. And trust is a two-way street. The doctor wants to know that she can trust you to be open and honest.

Resources

BOOKS

Bickley, L. S., P. G. Szilagyi, and J. G. Stackhouse, eds. Bates& Guide to Physical Examination & History Taking, 8th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 2002.

Chan, P. D., and P. J. Winkle. History and Physical Examination in Medicine, 10th ed. New York, NY: Current Clinical Strategies, 2002.

Seidel, Henry M. Mosby's Physical Examination Handbook, 4th ed. St. Louis, MO: Mosby-Year Book, 2003.

Swartz, Mark A., and William Schmitt. Textbook of Physical Diagnosis: History and Examination, 4th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders, 2001.

PERIODICALS

Lee, S. J., A. L. Back, S. D. Block, and S. K. Stewart. “Enhancing Physician-Patient Communication.” Hematology (2002): 464–483.

Nadelson, C., and M. T. Notman. “Boundaries in the Doctor-Patient Relationship.” Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics 23 (March 2002): 191–201.

Nebel, E. J. “Malpractice: Love Thy Patient.” Clinical Orthopedics 407 (February 2003): 19–24.

Thakur, N. M., and R. L. Perkel. “Prevention in Adulthood: Forging a Doctor-Patient Partnership.” Primary Care 29 (September 2002): 571–582.

ORGANIZATIONS

American Academy of Family Physicians. 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Leawood, KS 66211-2672. (913) 906-6000. E-mail: [email protected]. http://www.aafp.org.

American Academy of Pediatrics. 141 Northwest Point Boulevard, Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098. (847) 434-4000. Fax: (847) 434-8000. E-mail: [email protected]. http://www.aap.org.

American College of Physicians. 190 N. Independence Mall West, Philadelphia, PA 19106-1572. (800) 523-1546, x2600 or (215) 351-2600. http://www.acponline.org.

American College of Surgeons. 633 North St. Clair Street, Chicago, IL 60611-3231. (312) 202-5000. Fax: (312) 202-5001. E-mail: [email protected]. http://www.facs.org.

American Hospital Association. One North Franklin, Chicago, IL 60606-3421. (312) 422-3000. http://www.aha.org/index.asp.

American Medical Association. 515 N. State Street, Chicago, IL 60610. (312) 464-5000. http://www.ama-assn.org.

OTHER

Cable News Network (CNN). [cited March 2, 2003]. http://www.cnn.com/HEALTH/9906/30/internet.house.calls.

Emory University. [cited March 2, 2003]. http://www.emory.edu/WHSC/HSNEWS/releases/jun98/061898kaleidoscope.html.

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. [cited March 2, 2003]. http://www.med.unc.edu/wrkunits/2depts/medicine/fgidc/improving_relationships.htm.

YourDoctorintheFamily.Com. [cited March 2, 2003]. http://www.yourdoctorinthefamily.com/grandtheory/section11.htm.

L. Fleming Fallon Jr., MD, DrPH