How to prepare for your doctor’s checkup

When a person plans his visit to the clinic, he expects the doctor to make a quick and correct diagnosis, as well as to prescribe high-quality and effective treatment. But before visiting the doctor, you need to prepare a little..

1. Find out in advance the schedule of your doctor’s appointment, his last name, first name, patronymic and make an appointment by choosing the date and time of the appointment. Sometimes the doctor sees patients on a first-come, first-served basis, this also needs to be clarified. To do this, contact the registry of the polyclinic (in some polyclinics you can make an appointment by phone).

2. Take your outpatient card from the registry, which contains all the results of medical examinations that you made earlier, as well as examinations and consultations of other doctors. If you have additional results of any medical examinations at home (from X-rays and ultrasounds to certificates of vaccinations and blood tests) that you, for example, did not undergo in this clinic, be sure to take them with you to the doctor.

3. In order for the doctor to form a complete and accurate picture of your disease, it is necessary to take into account all the details. In a relaxed atmosphere, at home, consider what the first symptoms of the disease were, how long ago it all began, what diseases preceded the onset of the illness, as well as what medications you were taking and the effectiveness of treatment. Be sure to remember about your chronic diseases, operations, treatments at the day hospital. The more detailed you describe your condition, the more accurately the doctor will be able to find out all the details. Sometimes even little things can be useful information..

4. Consider the questions you want to ask your doctor: causes of the disease, possible prognosis, treatment methods and side effects from them. This is your body, so you will be the first to worry about it. Usually doctors give all the necessary information, as on the bilyak website, but if you have specific questions, please check individually.

5. Before visiting a doctor, do not take measures that may «lubricate» the symptoms. Check with the registry what special degrees of preparation you can undertake before visiting some doctors: gastroenterologist, proctologist, urologist, gynecologist and others.