Keys to a Successful Doctor's Appointment

Great video with nuggets for patients to know. Here's the video transcipt:

What questions do you wish your patients would ask?

Craig Sawchuk, Ph.D., Psychology: I wish patients would ask me more often, "What can I keep doing so I don't necessarily have to come back and see somebody like me?"

Laura Raffals, M.D., Gastroenterology and Hepatology: I hope that my patients will ask how they can improve their lifestyle or ask me what changes they can make in their lifestyle to help their overall health.

Dr. Sawchuk: Being in mental health, there's lots of things even long after therapy is over, that people can actually continue to do to maintain their gains over time.

Mikel Prieto, M.D., Transplant Surgery: Don't leave the office with questions because you just didn't dare to ask. The thing that would bother me the most is somebody, after leaving, they thought, "I wish I had dared to ask this or that," or "I wish I thought about this question."

Yvonne Butler Tobah, M.D., Obstetrics and Gynecology: Start asking questions like, "Well, how can I manage the pain during pregnancy?" As opposed to, "Oh my gosh, there's going to be so much pain during pregnancy."

Ian Parney, M.D., Ph.D., Neurosurgery: I encourage them all to speak up, to get as much information as they can, to ask as many things as they want to ask, to seek out as many sources of information as they'd like.

Dr. Butler Tobah: There's absolutely nothing wrong with walking into your doctor's office and stating that, "I'm worried about X," because of either this experience or, "Because I've heard this," and it's starting the discussion from there.

Karthik Giridhar, M.D., Medical Oncology: I love working with engaged patients. Patients that want to make sure that they're understanding why we're doing what we're recommending.

Dr. Prieto: What I want when I see a patient is that when they leave, they feel they have had the answers to everything they wanted to know.

I never have had a doctor that gave two hoots about my questions, especially if I researched and wrote them down. I don't even try anymore. It is pointless. I go to the internet and try to figure it out myself. I frankly wish it were different. I have 45 years of being managed by doctors who pontificate and leave as quickly as they are able to get onto the next billable 15 minutes.

Please don’t ask us to carry more than we already have to, when we spend every day just trying to survive. How is that fair?

Also, why is it on us to figure out how to communicate with doctors? They could simply do their research ahead of time or after the appointment, and figure out how to ask the right questions to us. That’s what every other profession asks of its practitioners when it comes to customer service.

The Hippocratic Oath says “do no harm.” Doctors and the medical community would be wise to adhere to that.

I've been blessed from the beginning of my journey. I go to a cancer center, everyone from the moment you enter the building has been very good to me. My Oncologist greets me with a smile and a handshake. I have a social worker and a nurse navigator. I can call or e-mail and get a quick response. I couldn't ask for a greater group of staff watching over me. I never feel rushed during my visits, going once a month for over a year. They are simply the best I could ask for. I'm sorry not everyone can feel this way. Best to all.

@dizzyprizzy and @bmspector, I used to have feelings similar to yours when it came to doctors. Over the years I have had both great doctors and doctors that I have not liked much. Yes, the healthcare system has changed and doctors don't have as much time to spend with each of their patients during the day but I don't fault the doctors for all of the changes that have had a negative impact on my care.

My neuropathy and no answers brought me to Connect where I could learn from the experiences of others. One of the bright moments in my life a few years ago was the opportunity to attend a meeting with what I would like to think is a new breed of doctors that is hopefully growing exponentially. I was part of a group of patients who were at a presentation by Dr. Victor Montori on his mission in life to help patients and change healthcare as we know it. He also gave us each a copy of his book Why we revolt: A patient revolution for careful and kind care. That meeting gave me hope and has helped me become a better advocate for my own health. If you want to give it a try and learn more about the Patient Revolution, here's a good place to start:
--- The Challenge - The Patient Revolution: https://www.patientrevolution.org/thechallenge.

My experience is that doctors are basically following a script, and if you try to go off-script, they act like you're wasting their time. (None of my experiences have been at any of Mayo locations.)

I had a dispute with my gyn oncologist, at a fairly highly rated cancer center, during one of our 5 min appointments. So I decided to go to one of the top cancer centers in the country for a second opinion. When I called, the nurse navigator asked what I was looking for, and I said "the best, most creative person you have. I don't want someone reciting the standard of care at me." She should have said right then that they don't have anyone like that and that reciting the standard of care is their doctors' job.

But I made an appointment, had my list of questions, and didn't get any engagement from the doctor on any of them. I started asking questions, and she cut me off, saying "let's go through this chronologically.". So she asked me questions and typed it into the chart (although she did have access to my hospital's chart through Care Anywhere). Then she recited the standard of care at me. I made multiple attempts to ask questions and she deflected them all.

I was frustrated, so as the appointment ended I said how incredibly disappointed I was. As she was running out the door I noticed her eyes were a bit watery, so I wondered if I had made her cry. That added a layer of guilt onto an already worthless experience. This was also out of network, and I still haven't seen the bill, so that may add to my regret.

My main conclusion is that my expectations were unrealistic.

Karthik Giridhar, M.D., Medical Oncology: “ I love working with engaged patients. Patients that want to make sure that they're understanding why we're doing what we're recommending. “

@colleenyoung This is amazing and should be the approach for doctors and specialists alike. Unfortunately curiosity seems to be lacking n some primary care physicians. Of course they are busy. I was denied tests ( no sputum test although I asked three times ) and finally got an X-ray when I showed a photo of the sputum to the doctor. She had never asked for details.

Never was asked about consistency of phelgm and when I had told the individual about symptoms for over two years, I was told that colour of mucus isn’t always important and I might be causing symptoms through concern. Sputum was changing colour, had cough, experienced fatigue, among other symptoms. Assumptions were made.

Doctors are trained to be certain and some are reluctant to explore.

The physician was also reluctant to provide the results of the first X-ray but I asked again and got it. I could add more details here but I know others have had similar frustrating experiences. Now I have access to all tests and have a pulmonologist.

Having some notes and questions seemed to intimidate this doctor. University programs should address this while doctors are in training. Being curious and humble are such important qualities. Temperament of course can’t be taught, but a dose of self awareness would help.

New European research (2023) shows that colour of phelgm has been shown to be an indicator of infection and should be considered. Hope more doctors have access to and read the new research. It could make a difference with earlier diagnosis.

Same here. Most doctors get annoyed if you have done any research at all. They want you to follow their protocol and be obedient.

I’ve only had chronic illness for a couple years, so I’m just finding out how bad healthcare really has become. I think “managed care” is probably the main culprit.

I finally found an Integrative medical group where the doctors are mostly Osteopaths. It has made a world of difference in attitude and length of the appointments. My primary doctor always spends an hour with me, and seems interested to talk about my ideas for treatment.
He hasn’t solved my health issues yet, but he assures me he will NOT give up!
That means so much to me.

I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed. I go to my Oncologist with an incurable problem and he says he can control it. It's on me that I only went to the dr. when I didn't feel good, didn't need checkups and here I am, stage 4. My point is I can't ask him to "fix" it, and I'm sure not going to tell someone who has way more education then me how to do his job. If I knew how to fix this, I don't need him or her. I really feel for people who don't have a good visit. It can be very frustrating and we all know fear plays into it. I'm not suppose to say out loud I don't do research on my PC, I put my trust in my great Oncologist and God Almighty. I wish the best to all.

IMO the first appointment with an oncologist is the most important one.
Perhaps they don't realize how stressful the situation is nor the amount of doubt and questions you have.
Alot of Dr's think we all know what they're talking about, wrong most of us have zero clue about any details nor acronyms they use.
The first oncologist I went to was almost an hr late then tried to bum rush me. I basically had to block the door to get answers to even simple questions.
I didn't go back especially when he billed me for more than twice the time he spent in the room.
Alot of us don't have friends who have gone through this and can help us out, luckily some forums are available like here at Mayo Clinic.
I've had regular Dr's scoff at an issue I brought up, well it wasn't on the chart up front.
I've gotten to where I take a written list every time as not to leave a question unasked.
New oncologist couldn't be any nicer and listens to questions. He went over all the tests(nobody else did) and didn't BS, if he didn't know he said so.
We need to follow up on this and that, next time as we've done enough for today.
He wanted brutal honesty about everything including quality of life issues, don't be Embarrassed.
I was brutally honest about other facilities and Dr's I had seen.
He actually typed into chart everything I had been through(the other Dr's skimmed it at best) even noting issues I had traveling.

I learned a long time ago if you don't feel the Dr is a good fit for you or have issues with facilities that you should move on as it will not get better.