To make your visit to your doctor just that little bit easier, we have compiled a list of points for you to consider before you go. This will maximize the efficiency of the consultation hopefully saving you both money and time.

1.  Create a patient profile -  this needs to contain information about your medical history.  It will be great if you will be able to include the dates of treatments/hospitalizations, the reasons, as well as any instances of surgery. This should already be available to the doctor, but if you highlight and summarize how you see it, it would help the doctor immensely.

2.  Reason d’etre - Inform the physician of the reasons why you came for a visit.  Try to refine the usual medical symptoms you are experiencing.  Symptoms such as headaches, vomiting, constipation, etc. are normally the most common things that bring patients to the doctor.

3. Create a symptom diary -  tell your doctor about the timeline and the frequency of your medical symptoms.  e.g. if you suffer from migraines write down what you have eaten or done during the day, this will help identify any possibly triggers.

4. Determine the severity - rate your symptoms on scale of one to ten is recommended.  Use one as the lowest and ten as the highest rating.  Make sure that you are honest and try not to be melodramatic. Think also, about what else is affected apart from the direct symptoms, has it made you depressed or are there any physical problems as a result.

Being able to describe your symptoms to a clinician will help in prompt diagnosis and treatment. Being able to do this however, can prove sometimes quite tricky. Just remember that your doctor only knows about observing conditions and does not really know what it is like to be in that situation.