Booking your appointment is obviously the first step to do. However, when you decide on a date and time, make sure you arrive on time, and have a book or something to keep you busy just in case your doctor gets delayed at hospital or with a patient.
To get the maximum benefit from your appointment make sure you carry a note book with you. Write down all the symptoms you have. Your doctor would want to know the details of these symptoms, for instance if you have irregular periods it would be wise to go to the clinic with a calendar showing the dates of your last three periods. The doctor will ask about the onset date and the finish date so be ready to answer those questions.
The timing of the onset of any symptom is very important to remember, also other associated symptoms for example if you had pain, nausea, or fever. Please answers like “oh I’ve had the pain for ages, or my period has been irregular for quite some time” are not very helpful!
Please keep a log book of all the medications you’re taking at the time of the visit or took in the past. The doctor cannot tell the name of the medication you’re on by the color of the pill or the package!
Make sure you write down all the questions you want to ask your doctor and don’t feel embarrassed writing down the answers or taking notes of the instructions given.
If you had been to other doctors with a similar complaint it would be wise to mention that to your doctor, at the start of the interview. This will spare you a repetition of lab tests and x rays.
Ask your doctor for information sheets, it helps you better understand what’s going on with you. You can read them at leisure later on.
Doctors tend to use medical terms that sometime sound like gibberish to the layperson. If the doctor you see happens to be one of those ask her/him to explains things in a simpler way. Don’t leave the office until you’re 100% sure of the management plan set by the two of you.
Finally, if you’re not married please always go the gynecology clinic with full bladder. This makes Ultrasound exam much easier and more much informative.
