Have Medical Questions to Ask Your Doctor? 4 Tips to Get Them Answered

4 tips to get your medical questions answered if you have questions to ask your doctor. Effectively ask your medical question at your next doctor appointment!

How many of you have had the experience of going to the doctor, having tons of medical questions about what is going on with your body, and then leaving the doctor appointment without asking any of them? Or leaving feeling more confused than when you went in? I know I have!… and I’m a physician myself! As a physician, let me give you advice on what you can do to more effectively ask a medical question. When you have questions to ask your doctor your goal is to ask in a way that gets your medical questions answered.

 

Make sure to read the first post about why you NEED to ask your doctor questions! And then read these 4 tips to learn how!



Here are 4 tips to get your medical questions answered.

Being at a doctor appointment can sometimes be overwhelming or emotional. We can feel stressed or scared. Try not to let the emotions of the moment get in the way of your goals (sometimes easier said than done!). Increase your chances of getting your medical questions answered. The more prepared you are prior to the appointment the more likely the questions to ask your doctor will be answered.

 

Part of being healthy is understanding your personal medical history.

You need to be aware of the details so you can be your #1 advocate and make informed decisions.
Enter your email here to download a form that will keep track of all the important details you need to know (and questions you need to ask) regarding your medical history and medications.

Tip #1. Write your medical questions down (and then don’t forget them at home)!4 tips to get your medical questions answered if you have questions to ask your doctor. Effectively ask your medical question at your next doctor appointment!

BE ORGANIZED! Think about your questions before your doctor appointment and write them down. I’ve had the experience myself where I have questions but when I am in the office with the doctor I instantly forget what I wanted to ask. Or I only remember 1/2 of the questions. I remember the rest of them when I get back to my car. No matter how much you don’t think you will forget your questions, I still recommend writing them down.



Prioritize your medical questions in order of importance!

If you have several medical questions to ask prioritize them! This way if you are running out of time you can still ask the most important question and leave the rest for later. Otherwise, if you end up flustered you may not be able to effectively prioritize in that moment.

Take a picture of your medical question.

After you write down your question, take a picture of it so it is on your phone. You can also write your question in the “notes” section of your phone. You are less likely to walk out of the house without your phone than without your paper. This happens more than occasionally that patients try to be so organized but then leave the list at home on the table.

 

Tip #2. Let the doctor know at the start of the appointment that you have a couple of medical questions.4 tips to get your medical questions answered if you have questions to ask your doctor. Effectively ask your medical question at your next doctor appointment!

This is super helpful to us because then we can budget our time better and you will get more thorough answers. If a nurse or medical assistant checks you into your doctor’s appointment let them know you have questions. They will write on the intake sheet that you want to ask your doctor questions.



Believe me, I don’t want to end up talking about something else for the whole appointment only to find out with 1 minute left that my patient has 5 questions. I want to be able to answer all questions but now I am going to be rushed. I won’t be able to dedicate the time that I would like in order to give thorough explanations. Having the time to make sure you understand my reasoning is important to me!

Tip #3. Ask for a sooner follow-up doctor appointment

Please understand that we want to answer all your questions but we are also limited by our schedule. If you have a complicated health issue, or many different medical questions, we may only be able to tackle one part at each appointment.

 

Ask if it is possible to have a sooner follow-up doctor appointment. This way, you will have more time and each question can be answered thoroughly.

Tip #4. Ask if there are other reliable sources your doctor recommends to get your medical question answered.4 tips to get your medical questions answered if you have questions to ask your doctor. Effectively ask your medical question at your next doctor appointment!

Ask your physician if they recommend certain resources to read more about your particular issue. Your doctor may have handouts or book recommendations that will give you a greater understanding of what is going on with your health.

 

There are great resources online but you have to be careful with what source you read!! There are many awful sites full of misinformation and untruths. Read here for more information on how to know if a site is a trusted source of medical information.

If you are looking for self-help mental health resources here are my best BOOK RECOMMENDATIONS.



Be informed. Ask your doctor questions.

I hope you feel better equipped to go into your next doctor appointment and ask the medical questions you need in order to take charge of your health. Be a team member. Be your best advocate! Make sure you know everything you can about your health and treatment recommendations so you can help figure out what is in your best interest.

Have a mental health question for me?

As I said in the last post, I can’t answer a question specific to one person but I can answer questions generally. I may even write a blog about your question if it requires more detail. Chances are if one person has a question other people do too! Sign up below to email me your mental health question.

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5 thoughts on “Have Medical Questions to Ask Your Doctor? 4 Tips to Get Them Answered”

  1. Doctor Melissa Welby, thank you for sharing this post and enlightening readers about an organised way to tackle medical queries. Most patients do not spend time analysing their own problems and this makes it hard not just for the patient but also for the doctor. Keep sharing such posts for readers to know.

  2. I love how you said that you should prioritize your questions before you ask them. That’ll help you get the most important questions answered so that you don’t have to worry about them later. That’s the best strategy for peace of mind.

  3. It’s great that you said that before you go to your doctor’s appointment you should make a list of all the questions you have. I’m going to have a doctor’s visit next week and I have a lot of questions that I always forget to ask when I’m there. I’ll make sure to write them down and take a picture like you mentioned so the doctor can clarify my doubts.

  4. Thank you for telling me that I should prioritize my questions before trying to get some answers from my doctor. I’ve been suspecting that eating sugary foods will require me to get an allergy shot as seen on the red spots on my skin, but I’m not sure if it is only limited to sweets. It might be better to organize my thoughts first before visiting a health clinic for my inquiries and check-up.

  5. Thanks for explaining that it’s helpful to write down our questions down beforehand to make sure we don’t forget anything we wanted to ask. I want to find a local family practice to go to because I started having pain in my stomach about two weeks ago and want to get some answers about what could be causing it. I’m glad I read your article so I can take these steps to prepare and arrive at the appointment more confidently!

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