Skip to content
Sign in

Afterwards: what you understood, and what you did not

Leaving an appointment confused is common and it is usually about how something was explained.

Lesson 4 of 4

9 min Text

What this lesson says

  • Say the plan back in your own words before you leave — it catches misunderstandings in the room
  • Write down what you understood, what is unclear, and what to ask next
  • Not knowing how to take a medicine is a same-day phone call, not a next-appointment question
  • A report or prescription usually contains the words you need to ask about

This is general education. It is not advice about your own situation, and it does not replace seeing a clinician.

Written lesson.
  1. 1. Before you leave, say the plan back to her in your own words. It takes twenty seconds and it catches misunderstandings while she is still in the room. Ask her to write down the name of a condition or a medicine if you will not remember it.
  2. 2. When you get home, write down three things while they are fresh: what you understood, what is still unclear, and what you want to ask next time. That list is what turns a vague sense of confusion into three answerable questions.
  3. 3. Separate the kinds of not-knowing, because one of them is urgent. Not understanding what the condition is can wait for the next appointment. Not knowing how to take a medicine, how much, or when to come back cannot — ring the clinic or a pharmacist today.
  4. 4. Not understanding is extremely common and it is usually about how something was explained rather than about you. Clinicians use words all day that most people meet once.
  5. 5. A prescription, a report or a discharge note usually contains the exact words you need to ask about, which makes the question easier: "on this paper it says X — what does that mean?" is simpler than trying to reconstruct a conversation.
  6. 6. If you want to look something up before you ask, look it up — but nothing you read replaces the clinician who examined you, and that includes everything on AskHer.

All lessons in this course

  1. 1 What usually happens, and what usually does not 10 min
  2. 2 Consent, examinations, and what you can ask for 12 min
  3. 3 Saying the difficult thing, in a short appointment 10 min
  4. 4 Afterwards: what you understood, and what you did not 9 min Reading now

No lesson is locked. Ticks appear once you have an account, so that what you have read is yours and not this device's.