You can help your doctor choose the best diagnostic tests by providing an accurate medical history. The medical history is a report the doctor of your “medical biography,” or a history of all the significant medical events in your life. The questions asked about your medical history will be more extensive during your first visit with a doctor than on subsequent visits. Also, during a general examination the history that is obtained is broader than during an examination for a specific problem. When you are seeing the doctor for a specific problem, the history can be limited to features pertinent to that problem.
The medical interview is often conducted by the doctor, but it may be conducted by a nurse or physician’s assistant. Sometimes the information is collected with a questionnaire. Regardless of the format, it is helpful if you have thought about and organized this information/before coming to the doctor.
The medical history that you provide will help your doctor decide where and how to focus the subsequent evaluation. The more you can help your doctor pinpoint the problem, the better the doctor will be able to avoid unnecessary testing and focus on finding the problem. If you feel that something is worth mentioning, say it. Your doctor is more likely to make an efficient and correct diagnosis if you focus on the symptoms that are relevant to the problem at hand.
The medical history should consist of the following parts: chief complaint, medical history, family medical history, social history, and review of organ systems.
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