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Get the best health care: our panel of medical experts tells you how
to make the most of one-on-one time with your doctor, dentist, therapist
and other health pros.
I have a family history of melanoma, and to make matters worse, I
spent way too many of my teenage summers slathered in baby oil, lying
in the sun. My skin-cancer risk is relatively high, so I get regular
exams. This time, I was seeing a new dermatologist. She barreled into
the room, gave me a quick once-over while she jabbered to the nurse
about another patient, then left. She'd barely glanced at my skin,
much less given me a chance to ask her anything. I knew that if she
had missed a cancerous mole in her hurry to complete the exam, it
could mean the difference between life and death--to me.
Fortunately, it didn't, but her brusque manner had left me tongue-tied,
vulnerable and ill at ease, an all too common experience for patients
today. "Doctors stand over us while we're lying on exam tables
and call us by our first names while we call them by their titles,"
says Jonathan H. Amsbary, Ph.D., an associate professor of health
communications at the University of Alabama in Birmingham.
"Plus, they're clothed and we're not. Of course we feel uncomfortable!"
However, from wrong diagnoses to prescriptions for medications that
don't help, studies show that poor doctor-patient communication is
to blame in many cases of bad health care. So it's vital to know what
to say and when to say it during all health-related visits--including
those with dentists and dietitians. Here, advice on how to better
navigate your next appointment.
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