Getting Your Diagnosis, Confirming Your Diagnosis, and Working with Providers
By Trisha Torrey, About.com Guide
- The Diagnosis Process
- Your Diagnosis
- Your Doctors: Choices and Communication
- When It's Time for a Second Opinion
- Problem with Your Diagnosis? Missing a Diagnosis?
The Diagnosis Process
Whether you haven't yet visited your doctor, you've already been given a diagnosis, or you remain undiagnosed, there are good practices that will help you get the right answers.
- Using Website Symptom Checkers
- Cyberchondria and Self Diagnosis
- Why Your Doctor Sends You For So Many Medical Tests
- Understanding Informed Consent
- "What Else Can it Be?" -- Understanding Differential Diagnosis
- Is Your Medical Problem "All in Your Head?"
- When You Can't Get a Diagnosis
Your Diagnosis
Once you've gotten a diagnosis and are confident it is correct, you'll need to step up to the plate to partner with your doctor. There are a number of tools that will help you develop the right attitude and the confidence to see yourself through your medical journey.
- The Wise Patient's Guide to Being Newly Diagnosed
- The Four Goals of Medical Treatment - Managing Your Own Expectations
- Your Role as a Partner on Your Healthcare Team
- Taking Responsibility for Your Healthcare Decisions
- Savvy Patient Toolkit
Your Doctors: Choices and Communication
When you are sick or hurt, the road to wellness is much smoother if you are able to trust your doctors and truly feel like you can collaborate with them. That trust requires good two-way communication with the right physician.
- Choosing the Right Doctor for Your Medical Care
- How to Find a Doctor Online
- How Primary Care Providers Can Be Helpful to You
- Effective Doctor/Patient Communication
- How to Share Health Information and Research with Your Doctor
- Is It Time to Change Doctors?
- Why Board Certification is Important
- Where is Dr. Marcus Welby?
When It's Time for a Second Opinion
If you have been diagnosed with something that will be chronic, lifelong, or will require invasive treatment such as chemotherapy, radiation or surgery, you must get a second opinion. Further, if you aren't sure your diagnosis is correct, or if you are having trouble getting a first diagnosis, you'll need to see a second doctor to get to the bottom of things.
- When Do You Need a Second Opinion?
- Finding the Right Doctor for Your Second Opinion
- Working With Your Second Opinion Doctor
Problem with Your Diagnosis? Missing a Diagnosis?
You may get a diagnosis and the treatment doesn't work. That means you may have been misdiagnosed. Or maybe you can't get a diagnosis at all. There are few things in life as problematic as getting a wrong diagnosis or not getting a diagnosis at all. See if you can find help among these links.
