Author: McLaren Flint
With the New Year here, getting a yearly checkup should be on your to-do list. It can sometimes feel overwhelming to schedule a doctor’s appointment, as you may not feel prepared, but it can be less stressful with a little pre-planning.
It’s essential to provide your doctor with all the necessary information to ensure a comprehensive understanding of your health. Here are a few things you can do to ensure you get the most out of your next doctor’s appointment.
“The best way to prepare for that appointment is to gather as many of your medical documents as you can,” said Caleb Lindstrom, DO, family medicine physician at McLaren Flint-Fenton Community Medical Center. “A list of specialists, medications (including dose and frequency), past diagnoses, labs, insurance cards, ID, and medical records should all be provided. If you are already an established patient, medical records are not necessary.”
It's also important to bring information about your family health history, test results, and the specialists you are seeing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), most people have a family health history of at least one chronic disease, such as cancer, heart disease, or diabetes. If you have a close family member with a chronic disease, you may be more likely to develop that disease yourself, especially if more than one close relative has (or had) the disease or a family member got the disease at a younger age than usual.
“Family history can guide medical decision making for your care,” said Dr. Lindstrom. “You may need additional labs, screenings, or imaging done if you have family members with certain medical conditions. Past test results are helpful, too, because they provide context for your medical history and help guide us, as physicians, on what to monitor or adjust. Also, bringing a list of your specialists is helpful because then we can request your past medical records and have all your history on file and easily accessible.”
Keep a health journal prior to your appointment if you are experiencing digestive concerns by logging what you eat. If you have diabetes, keep a record of your blood sugar levels. If you have high blood pressure, take it multiple times a day and write down your results.
Bring a support person with you to your appointment. They can help take notes or ask key questions that you might not be thinking of in the moment.
“It may also be helpful to have a list of things ready that you need to discuss at your visit,” said Dr. Lindstrom. “If we are not able to get to everything on that list on the first visit, we can get started on the most important things first and have a plan moving forward.”
Seeing a new doctor can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. Feel free to let anyone at your doctor's office know if there's anything they can do to make your experience more comfortable.
“At the end of the day, we're happy to see all of our patients because just the act of a patient showing up means that we share the same common goal- for you to be healthy and happy,” said Dr. Lindstrom.
McLaren physicians accepting new patients can be found at mclaren.org/primarycare.