YOU: The Smart Patient
An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatment
Chapter One: Getting to Know You Let's Discover the Juicy Secrets About the Person Who Controls Your Health: You
Most people think they communicate with their doctors just fine. Better than fine, in fact. Fantastic. Given that most of the communication consists of nodding or a request for antibiotics, there's little to find fault with. That's the problem, of course. Most patients don't do a great job of communicating with their doctors because patients often give us too little pertinent information to go on (remember, just like the detective, we're looking for the facts). At the same time, they may also give us too many distracting or off-topic details. It reminds us a little bit of what a mechanic must think when we try to explain a noise in our car. We're not sure when it started, we're not sure what makes it worse, we think it's a whining sound but aren't sure...We bet this becomes a tedious monologue for those earnest professionals trying to help us.
An almost identical conversation goes on in doctors' o ... read full excerpt from: You: The Smart Patient: An Insider's Handbook for Getting the Best Treatment ebook