I’m sure many of you have had the experience of just leaving the hospital and realizing that you forgot to mention a symptom or problem, or realized that you didn’t fully understand what the doctor said. There is a saying that the average time a doctor spends with a patient in an outpatient clinic in this country is only three minutes. So, even though everything that should be asked is asked, it doesn’t seem so easy to remember all the questions that you want to ask. However, proper preparation before seeing a doctor will make the visit smoother, more efficient, and have a positive impact on treatment. Let’s take a look at how to be “properly prepared”. 1. Think about the purpose of your visit Physical examination? Follow up? Feeling unwell, so want to know if you have a disease? Are you unstable and need a new treatment or want to adjust the existing plan? Want to know the prognosis and how the disease will progress in the future? 2. Prepare medical history and basic information Prepare a detailed medical history of yourself and your immediate family, for example: when high blood pressure was found on physical examination, what was the highest blood pressure. Prepare a list of the medications you take, including the type, dosage and number of times taken per day. Since there may be different manufacturers of the same medication, it is a good idea to bring the outer packaging of the medication you take. If some test results require you to prepare them in advance, make sure they are available before you see your doctor. If you need to bring X-rays or other imaging films, you need to know where to get them and pick them up ahead of time. Remember: never fold them at random, it will affect the results. 3. List your symptoms Prepare a detailed record of your “discomfort”: When did you start to feel uncomfortable? How uncomfortable? What does it feel like: Is it pain? Fever? Becoming sluggish, dull? Irritability? Swelling? Oozing blood? Use 0 to 10 to represent different levels of pain, with 0 being no pain and 10 being severe pain. At what level do you think you are? What do you think is causing your symptoms, how often does it occur, how long does it last? What can reduce your symptoms? All of these require you to have a detailed record and provide it to your doctor during your visit. 4. Arm yourself with knowledge Learn general medical knowledge appropriately. This will enable you to better understand the doctor’s words, and also to learn in advance about the possible causes of the disease, what tests the doctor may do, etc. 5.Write down what you want to ask including: What tests do I need to do? What kind of disease do I have? How can I be treated? 6. Write down what you hear. With the doctor’s permission, use a notepad, cell phone or other mobile device to write down the doctor’s answers and other tips. If you do all of the above, you will benefit a lot, even though you only have a few minutes.