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" When someone tells me she hated her last three doctors, I&amp;#039;m a little suspicious. All three? Hmm. I have to think that maybe something is preventing a good doctor-patient relationship from forming, and it may not be all the doctor&amp;#039;s fault. To get the best care, you have to:   1. Fess up: If your doctor tells you to get a test or take medication, and you haven&amp;#039;t by the next visit, call the doctor ahead of time and tell him or her why. People don&amp;#039;t take their medication as prescribed for lots of reasons: They can&amp;#039;t afford it, they forget, they&amp;#039;re scared of side effects, they had a side effect. Your doctor can work iwth you to get around these obstacles- any good doctor considers this an integral part of the job. It also bothers me when a patient is not upfront with me and doesn&amp;#039;t mention that she had a series of high-tech tests a week ago because they wants them repeated. Telling me about it would let us evaluate why she didn&amp;#039;t trust the initial results.   2. Get prepped: Bring a list of your medications and dosages (including supplements and over-the-counter drugs) plus a copy of your family medical history. If you&amp;#039;re going to a specialist, take your lab results or radiology films.   3. Take notes: When people get nervous, they have trouble taking in information. So come armed with paper and pen, and/or bring a friend or a family member.   4. Be specific: The more details you can give me about your symptoms, the better. If you can tell me where it hurts, what kind of pain ( sharp, dull, sporadic, constant), when it occurs ( when you lie down, after meals) and for how long, it helps me make a valid diagnosis. And when a doctor asks you how you&amp;#039;ve been feeling, mention everything, even if you think it&amp;#039;s nothing or silly. Don&amp;#039;t screen information, and mot important, don&amp;#039;t be afraid of sounding stupid.   5. Don&amp;#039;t ignore your doctor&amp;#039;s advice: If a patient says she&amp;#039;d been told to have a procedure but didn&amp;#039;t want to and so didn&amp;#039;t have it, it makes me nuts. She might have a life-threatening disease, yet she ignored her doctor. It&amp;#039;s OK to get scared- we all do- but that shouldn&amp;#039;t stand in the way of listening to sound medical advice. If you&amp;#039;re unsure about a treatment, medication or test, tell your doctor. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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