Originally Posted by Tropical
I also want to ask for some advice about how to get a doctor to listen to you.
I guess that is just the way doctors are now.
I had my list of topics I wanted to cover and he saw it. I always take one. I stated what I wanted to talk about when he asked why I was there. Things went downhill from there.
I teach in the "Doctoring and Clinical Skills" course at UMass Med School. We teach our medical students a "patient-centered" approach to interviewing. The physicians who teach in the course are all working PCPs: they are well aware of the constraints on modern medicine (15 minutes per patient, etc.)
Yesterday we evaluated our first year medical students: they've only been in school about 2-1/2 months. In the 12 minutes they were given, each of them was able to calm a nervous patient, gather information related to the chief complaint, ask what the patient was worried about, and form a preliminary differential diagnosis.
There
are well trained physicians out there, and it's worth looking until you find one. The key is how well they listen to you.
If this physician is part of a medical center, there should be a "Patient Representative" service where you can take complaints about the care you receive. Another option is to talk to the doctor directly, if you're able to: tell him what you are concerned about. If he doesn't respond, then find someone else.
Good luck!
Jory