How to engage with your doctor

This audio clip is from ask me anything (AMA) episode #19, originally released on January 18, 2021.

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Show Notes

Advice for engaging with and questioning your doctor [1:03:15]

Weekly emails on this topic:

• How to find a good doctor – 7/12/20
• Colorectal cancer screening – 7/27/20

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How to talk, engage, and question your doctor

• First, Peter admits that physicians are in a tough position—many doctors must see upwards of 6 patients an hour to maintain their practice which squeezes the time they have for answering questions from patients unrelated to the particular visit
• So coming into an appointment and hitting them with tons of questions they weren’t prepared for creates a difficult scenario

Best practice: Send them an email before your appointment to give them a chance to reflect your questions, read up on it, and have their point of view ready 

• Please remember, you’re still the consumer, so if the doctor is utterly dismissive of what you want to discuss, then you have a right to go get another doctor

“Medicine is not that special. There’s nothing special about the fact that we spent four years going through certain types of school. There’s good doctors, and there’s bad doctors.” —Peter Attia

Medicine comes down to these four A’s: advocacy, affability, availability, and ability

• Your doc many not score a perfect 10 in all 4 categories but you better get some fraction of those to a level that is your satisfaction

If you’re not getting an answer that you’re comfortable with from your doctor, you should go find another doctor — “Yeah, that’s a bit painful. But we’re talking about your health here. So it’s probably worth that investment.”