I am frequently asked by patients to “run some tests to make sure nothing is wrong.” This makes a lot of sense on the surface but makes no sense as a physician. Why? Because testing without a context or a medical question is nonsensical. Let’s talk about why.
How doctors think
Studies show that doctors only let their patient speak for 11 seconds on average before we interrupt them. This suggests that doctors don’t listen to patients when, in fact, we are listening for specific things to help us figure out how to help you.
From the moment I meet you, I’m thinking about problem-solving your health issue. Chest pain? I’ve already created a list of dozens of possible problems from heart attack to muscle strain in my mind. I need specific information from you and from my examination of you to narrow that list down. Sometimes doctors jump the gun in trying to get the specific questions we need to be answered to rapidly narrow down the list of potential diagnoses. You may not know what the most important medical information is, so we try to direct your sharing of information to get to these issues most quickly.
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