Care factor

So that's the end of medical school I guess.  Looking back, by far the most useful classes I got were the tutorials on taking a medical history from somebody.  I'm not sure if it's true that 80% of diagnoses can be made on the basis of history alone, but it certainly is true that if you can't take a good history you'll look like a idiot at least 300% more frequently.

In those classes we were also given a few other useful tips.  The one I have made best use of is how to handle the inevitable questions that you start getting from family and friends as soon as you start medical school, asking for medical advice.  The advice was to simply say, "You should talk to your doctor about that."  Not only does it absolve you of responsibility for serious illnesses, it also avoids getting entangled in dull discussions of minor ailments.  In fact, it can be used in a wide variety of contexts, even non-medical ones!

Here are some real-life examples:

Friend: "I have this terrible rash in my crotch, what do you think it is?"
PTR: "You should talk to your doctor about that."

Friend: "I'm incredibly thirsty all the time and I've been losing lots of weight."
PTR: "You should talk to your doctor about that."

Friend: "I have crushing central chest pain that radiates to my jaw and left arm, shortness of breath, nausea, sweating, and a feeling of impending doom.  Aggggghhhh the pain!!!!  The pain!!!!  Hhhhhh ... can't ... breathe ..."
PTR: "You should talk to your doctor about that."

Supervisor: "You're the worst medical student I've ever supervised."
PTR: "You should talk to your doctor about that."

Mechanic: "Looks like you've blown your head gasket."
PTR: "You should talk to your doctor about that."

Try it tomorrow, you won't be disappointed!