Questions for doctors, specialists and medical appointments

Questions to write down before an appointment, for patients and families seeing a specialist, a pediatrician, a physical therapist or a pharmacist, or facing a diagnosis or a treatment. A few sets are for clinicians taking a history. They are prompts for your own clinician, not medical advice.

161 sets · 6,633 questions · each with a note on why

A few to start with

Who covers your patients when you are away or unavailable?
Continuity matters for prescriptions and repeat monitoring. Ask whether a colleague can issue a refill and whether your notes are accessible to them, so a holiday or a departure does not interrupt treatment.
From: Questions to Ask a Doctor About Transitioning
Should I have genetic testing for BRCA1, BRCA2 and other inherited genes, even with no cancer in my family?
Testing is widely offered to women with epithelial ovarian cancer whatever the family history, because inherited changes turn up in families with no obvious pattern. If you hear 'no need, nobody in your family had it', ask how testing is arranged where you are and for a referral to genetics.
From: Questions to Ask Your Oncologist About Ovarian Cancer
Can I choose the colours on my braces, and do the clear ones stain?
The coloured part is usually the small elastic ring around each bracket, and practices that use them tend to swap them at adjustment visits, so a choice is rarely permanent. Put the staining half to them about the exact clear or ceramic type they fit, and which food and drink they have seen cause it.
From: Questions to Ask an Orthodontist
What happens to my sample and my data once the test is finished?
Storage, reanalysis and research use are usually consented to in the same paperwork as the test itself. This is the moment to separate what you agree to from what is bundled with it, and to find out whether you can withdraw later and have the sample destroyed.
From: Questions to Ask a Genetic Counselor
Of everything we just covered, which one thing would help you most if we could get you support for it?
Letting the patient rank their own needs stops you from routing them to three programs they will not use. Their choice is usually the one that unblocks the rest of the treatment plan.
From: Social Determinants of Health Questions to Ask Patients
Any jaw pain, clicking, or trouble opening your mouth wide?
Clicking with pain on chewing usually points at the joint or at grinding, and asking about morning stiffness helps distinguish them. Pain in the jaw that comes on partway through a meal in an older patient is a different question and needs same-day assessment.
From: HEENT Questions to Ask a Patient

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