Improving Communication
It can also improve the communication if you let your doctor know what you are worried about. If you take your child to the doctor because he has had a lot of headaches, a common problem in school age children, he might be diagnosed as having migraines or headaches from stress. If you are worried that he has a brain tumor, simple reassurance that his headaches aren't serious probably won't be helpful. If you let your doctor know what you are worried about, then he can spend extra time explaining why you shouldn't be worrying about it or what to watch out for.This also commonly happens to children with a viral illness. They may have fever, headache and neck pain, and you are worried about meningitis, but your doctor just says it is the flu. Although your doctor might be thinking of meningitis and has decided against that diagnosis because there is no stiff neck or vomiting, he might not mention it unless he specifically knows that you are worried about meningitis. But if you are thinking your child has meningitis, you probably won't be satisfied with a simple explanation, such as it is just the flu.
Ask Questions
It can also be helpful to write down your questions before you go to your doctors visit. Most parents forget their routine questions during the visit. Having a list of questions or topics that you want to discuss at your appointment will make it more likely that everything is covered.You should also not be afraid to ask questions. Parents often get a lot of information in a short amount of time during a typical visit. If you aren't given a handout with the information written down, ask for one, or take notes. And ask questions about things you don't understand. If you don't ask any questions, your doctor will likely assume that you understand everything.
Scheduling Appointments
If you feel like you need more time to discuss your child's problem, ask if you can schedule an appointment that is longer than a typical office visit. Or ask if your Pediatrician can call you back at the end of the day to answer more questions.Scheduling an appointment during an off-peak time of year may also increase your chances of getting more time with your doctor. Many Pediatricians are very busy during the winter, during cold and flu season, but less busy during the summer, when there are fewer viruses circulating in the community. Scheduling an appointment during the summer, especially for a well child visit or a non urgent chronic problem, can be helpful.
And try to schedule specific appointments to talk about your child's different problems. If you are at a sick visit for a sore throat or an ear infection, then your Pediatrician will likely not have a lot of extra time to also talk about asthma or acne. If you schedule a separate appointment to just talk about asthma or acne, or whatever problem your child is having, then you will likely have more time at the visit to talk about it.
Avoid Medical Lingo
Many people use medical terminology inappropriately. If you call your doctor's office and say that your child is lethargic, a favorite word among many parents, you are likely to be told to bring your child in right away. Being lethargic, in medical terms, is usually an emergency and means your child is difficult to wake up. Many people use the term to mean that their child's activity is just a little decreased. I have had many 'lethargic' kids running around the office, only to find that the parent thinks their child is lethargic because he is usually running and jumping around.Give Feedback
It may also help if you let your Pediatrician know if you felt rushed, thought that you didn't have enough time during the visit, or don't understand what you were told. It may have been a bad day, where patients showed up late, a sick patient had to be seen immediately, or there was an emergency at the hospital. In these cases, your Pediatrician may let you come back at the end of the day, or call you when she is done seeing patients.
