Request from a medical provider to any prospective patients out there scheduling a clinic appointment:

If you are going to the clinic for something you're embarrassed to tell the scheduler about (STD exposure, erectile dysfunction, etc), it's okay to offer a false reason for the appointment. Just please be sure you tell the provider when he or she walks into the exam room.

There have actually been several times in my career when, if a patient's reason for visit said 'Cough', or something on the schedule, the patient would let me get all the way through the history of present illness, examination, diagnosis, and treatment plan before saying "Actually, what I'm really here for is....."



At that point, the visit is over and I have to move on to the next patient. The thing you came in for will have to wait for another appointment. Why did you let me get all the way through the clinic visit before telling me what you were really here for? Did you forget that you gave a fake reason?

Seriously; time management in clinical medicine is already a minefield. Please just be straightforward with me.

And if I was late getting in to see you, and you end the visit with "Oh, just one more thing!...", please be aware that I was late for your appointment because every patient ahead of you had "just one more thing."