Getting your first appointment

Hello @amkaloha, Great questions! Thank you for posting them here on Mayo Clinic Connect.

You can start with a referral from your Primary Care Provider or you can refer yourself, called a self-referral.

Your first interaction with Mayo Clinic will start with our Central appointment desk. See the number to call or request an appointment online here http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63.
Here the Appointment coordinators will introduce you to how the Mayo system works. Our Appointment schedulers use decision trees to determine where you will start with your Mayo experience. For example, if General Internal Medicine happens to be where you need to start, they will then request your medical records and schedule the appointment for you.

It has been in my experience that some referring facilities don't follow up with sending patient medical records from other facilities. It would be in your best interest to gather your records and have them with you when you attend your appointment so possible testing requested by your Mayo provider doesn't have to be repeated.

I will also connect you with members @v1crew @sauvee @coastalgirl @pbo2016 @rosemarya and @kdubois who have also had experience visiting Mayo Clinic. They may have more insight on navigating the facility as a patient and getting the most out of your Mayo Clinic experience.

I hope this answers some of your questions. Best of luck to you!

I started by applying to internal medicine clinic. I answered some questions that were emailed to me. Then they accepted me for internal medicine. Then i said i would be on cancellation list where they call when somebody cancels. I got appointment quickly. Then its a physical and they make you catch up on preventives. Had first mammogram ever. But then they make appointments for consultations depending on your physical. I went to endocrinology, sleep medicine, gynecology, and had my hearing and vision checked. They are very through at Mayo Clinic. But you do have to get accepted as a patient.

Last January, I started to have really excruciating pain in my upper right leg (10 on a scale of 1-10). I went to the local ER and doctors thought it was muscle cramps caused by a statin I was taking for cholesterol. They prescribed a painkiller and steroids but those didn't really help. I was in a wheelchair for close to six weeks. Finally I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back that was hitting a nerve and referred to a local orthopedic surgeon who told me I would need spinal surgery immediately and yelled at me because the MRI images he received were not complete. In despair, I called the Mayo Clinic in Rochester without being referred by any doctor. I did have to gather my medical records (MRIs, X-Rays, etc) but I did get an appointment with the Orthopedics Dept. scheduled for a date six weeks after I made the initial call. Everyone at the Mayo Clinic treated me with compassion and respect. My diagnosis: severe spinal arthritis, spinal stenosis, and scoliosis and I will eventually need to have a spinal fusion surgery. I cannot imagine going anywhere else but the Mayo Clinic to have the surgery. Physical therapy helped immensely.

@amkaloha, I was referred to Mayo Clinic by my local healthcare specialist when they could not perform the necessary diagnostic tests needed for my treatment. As I recall, I received a packet of introductory information and paperwork. I received an itinerary in advance of my visit. I have been going to Mayo Rochester for 7 years for follow-up, and I can assure you that if there is any need to add or remove tests or procedures, then they will do it with the highest efficiency. One thing I have learned is that many of the smaller area clinics do not have the technology for electronic records. So it would be helpful to check into this before you go.
I hope that this all works out for you.
Rosemary

Last January, I started to have really excruciating pain in my upper right leg (10 on a scale of 1-10). I went to the local ER and doctors thought it was muscle cramps caused by a statin I was taking for cholesterol. They prescribed a painkiller and steroids but those didn't really help. I was in a wheelchair for close to six weeks. Finally I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back that was hitting a nerve and referred to a local orthopedic surgeon who told me I would need spinal surgery immediately and yelled at me because the MRI images he received were not complete. In despair, I called the Mayo Clinic in Rochester without being referred by any doctor. I did have to gather my medical records (MRIs, X-Rays, etc) but I did get an appointment with the Orthopedics Dept. scheduled for a date six weeks after I made the initial call. Everyone at the Mayo Clinic treated me with compassion and respect. My diagnosis: severe spinal arthritis, spinal stenosis, and scoliosis and I will eventually need to have a spinal fusion surgery. I cannot imagine going anywhere else but the Mayo Clinic to have the surgery. Physical therapy helped immensely.

Last January, I started to have really excruciating pain in my upper right leg (10 on a scale of 1-10). I went to the local ER and doctors thought it was muscle cramps caused by a statin I was taking for cholesterol. They prescribed a painkiller and steroids but those didn't really help. I was in a wheelchair for close to six weeks. Finally I was diagnosed with a herniated disc in my lower back that was hitting a nerve and referred to a local orthopedic surgeon who told me I would need spinal surgery immediately and yelled at me because the MRI images he received were not complete. In despair, I called the Mayo Clinic in Rochester without being referred by any doctor. I did have to gather my medical records (MRIs, X-Rays, etc) but I did get an appointment with the Orthopedics Dept. scheduled for a date six weeks after I made the initial call. Everyone at the Mayo Clinic treated me with compassion and respect. My diagnosis: severe spinal arthritis, spinal stenosis, and scoliosis and I will eventually need to have a spinal fusion surgery. I cannot imagine going anywhere else but the Mayo Clinic to have the surgery. Physical therapy helped immensely.