Written in Partnership with Amir Bakian
People often believe they are ready to talk to their doctor when they show up for the appointment. However, most of them get nervous and fail to mention their main concerns to their doctor. What makes the matter worse is the general indifference that doctors all over the world seem to have toward this. Tashinea Bernadin, a physician, on the other hand, has devoted all her social media platforms to educating people on such issues in the simplest ways possible.
She uploads a video every week to address the misconceptions that people have about medicine, some of which are not at all talked about at all. In one of her videos, she gave a few tips for patients to get the most out of their doctor’s appointments.
Be on time
The office visit is mainly scheduled for 15 minutes per session, which is often not enough for a thorough examination. However, instead of getting into the whys and hows of the situation, she advises people to attend their doctor’s appointments on time to utilize them efficiently. The sooner you are there, the sooner the staff will get you to the medical healthcare provider, giving you a little more time with him/her. She adds that if you are showing up for a chronic condition, that will take little time. If you want to be checked for something new, the medical provider may take more a little longer to diagnose.
Bring up your most pressing issue first
While talking about this, she says that if you have ear ache and chest pain, it’s better to mention your chest pain first. If you forget to mention it, write it somewhere. The key is, to be honest with your doctor.
Keep a diary of your symptoms
Keep a diary of your symptoms. Use it to write down where you feel the pain, how long it has been there, what triggers it, and what makes it better. She adds that it’s best to characterize your pain, whether sharp or dull, because it will help your doctor better understand what’s happening. This way, when your medical provider asks what brought you here, you will already have a clear picture of what to tell him/her.
Tashinea aims to make things easier for her patients and everybody else because she relates to them on a deeper level and wants to help them in all possible ways. She has been doing these sessions where she educates people for more than three years and hopes to continue because the world needs more of this.
Head to her Instagram to educate yourself on medicine-related things you may not be familiar about.
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