Tips from the Clinic

1. Opportunistic health education & health promotion:

When the patient complaint is minor and very clear, safe the consultation time for health education & health promotion. E.g. A child brought by his father complain of cough & runny nose, do not miss the opportunity to talk to his father about his growth & development, his vaccination a, his diet, hygiene and safety at home.

2. Direct suggestive questions or open ended questions:

When you ask a patient about red flags (risk assessment) try to avoid direct questions and suggestive questions, because these types of questions may give you misleading information. To get more correct information try to use open ended questions like "how" question, e.g. how is your weight or how is your mood or how is your sleep, instead of asking did you loss weight? or do you feel low? or do you have difficulty in sleeping?

E.g. A patient with headache and you want to exclude brain tumor. You may ask him: how do you feel when you wake up in the morning, instead of asking: is the headache worse in the morning? Or ask how is your vision? Instead of asking: do you have blurred vision?

3. The risk of jumping to conclusion

However the context of the consultation is pointed to a certain diagnosis, always try to react with open mind, and think of possible differential diagnosis, otherwise you will jump to wrong conclusion, and you may miss serious and important diagnosis.

E.g. If a 40-year diabetic lady came with vaginal discharge, there is a great possibility the diagnosis is Candida infection, but there is also possibility that it could be anything from physiological discharge to cancer. So don't jump to conclusion

4. Everything is possible

When a patient comes with unexpected complaint incompatible with his/her age or his/her status, try to maximize your imagination and think of all possibility without inhibition. E.g. a single respected lady came with migratory arthritis and skin rash, you can't exclude possibility of Gonococcal septic arthritis just because she said she is single and she looks respectable