Doctor Visit Prep Skill
The average appointment gives you a handful of minutes and interrupts your opening sentence fast — and most of that budget gets spent reconstructing a timeline you could have brought written down. This skill builds the one-page visit sheet clinicians actually want: symptoms in onset-duration-severity-pattern form, the medication list that's actually current, and the questions ranked so the important ones happen even if time doesn't. It prepares the communication; the medicine stays with the doctor.
What This Skill Produces
- The symptom brief — each concern in clinical shape: what, since when, how bad (0–10), what makes it better/worse, what's changed
- The current-state sheet — medications with doses (including supplements), allergies, relevant history, other clinicians involved
- The ranked question list — top 3 first, because visits end mid-list
- Advocacy scripts — the phrases for feeling dismissed, asking about alternatives, and getting findings documented
Required Inputs
Ask for these if not provided:
- The reason for the visit — new problem, follow-up, annual, or the-thing-they're-worried-about (often different from the stated reason; ask gently)
- The symptom story, unstructured — let them ramble; the skill does the structuring into timeline form
- Medications and supplements as actually taken — not as prescribed; the gap is clinically relevant and the sheet records reality with the discrepancy noted for discussion
- What they're afraid of — the unasked question ("could this be cancer?") is the visit's real agenda; putting it on paper is how it gets answered instead of orbited
Framework: The 12-Minute Rules
- Timeline beats adjectives: "sharp right-side pain, started ~3 weeks ago, 6/10 at worst, worse after meals, new this year" is usable; "it hurts a lot lately" restarts the interview. Every symptom gets onset / severity / pattern / modifiers / trajectory.
- Lead with the agenda: "I have three things: X, Y, and the one I'm most worried about is Z" — said in the first thirty seconds — is the single highest-leverage sentence in healthcare. The sheet opens with it, verbatim.
- The worry goes on paper: unspoken fears drive unfocused visits. Naming the feared diagnosis lets the clinician address it directly — including the reassurance, which only lands when the fear was actually said.
- The reality medication list: what's actually taken, including the skipped doses and the turmeric — with the as-prescribed gap flagged for honest discussion, not hidden. Interactions live in the gap between the two lists.
- Advocacy is specific, not adversarial: "What else could this be?", "What would we expect to change if it's X?", "If this isn't better in [time], what's the next step?", and — when dismissed — "I'd like the chart to reflect that I raised this and we decided [outcome]." Documentation requests change conversations while staying collegial.
Output Format
Visit Sheet: [appointment, date] — bring printed or on phone
The Opening (say this first)
"I have [N] things today: [list]. The one I'm most worried about is [Z]."
Symptoms
| Concern |
Since |
Severity (0–10) |
Pattern / triggers |
Changed how |
Current State
Medications as actually taken: […, with as-prescribed gaps flagged] · Supplements: … · Allergies: … · Other clinicians/recent tests: …
Questions (in priority order)
- [the must-answer] 2. … 3. … [rest below the line — asked if time allows]
If Needed — Advocacy Lines
Dismissed: "[the chart-documentation line]" · Alternatives: "What else could this be?" · Follow-up: "If this isn't better by [when], what's next?"
This sheet organizes communication with your clinician — it contains no medical advice, and the doctor's guidance supersedes anything in its structure.
Quality Checks
Anti-Patterns
1---2name: doctor-visit-prep3description: Prepare for a doctor's appointment so the 12 minutes actually get used — the symptom timeline in the format clinicians think in, the prioritized question list, and the advocacy scripts for being heard. Use when asked help me prepare for my doctor appointment, what should I tell my doctor, organize my symptoms, or I always forget what to ask. Produces the one-page visit sheet: symptom history with timeline, medications, the top-3 questions, and the phrases that get concerns taken seriously.4---5
6# Doctor Visit Prep Skill
7
8The average appointment gives you a handful of minutes and interrupts your opening sentence fast — and most of that budget gets spent reconstructing a timeline you could have brought written down. This skill builds the one-page visit sheet clinicians actually want: symptoms in onset-duration-severity-pattern form, the medication list that's actually current, and the questions ranked so the important ones happen even if time doesn't. It prepares the *communication*; the medicine stays with the doctor.
9
10## What This Skill Produces
11
12- **The symptom brief** — each concern in clinical shape: what, since when, how bad (0–10), what makes it better/worse, what's changed
13- **The current-state sheet** — medications with doses (including supplements), allergies, relevant history, other clinicians involved
14- **The ranked question list** — top 3 first, because visits end mid-list
15- **Advocacy scripts** — the phrases for feeling dismissed, asking about alternatives, and getting findings documented
16
17## Required Inputs
18
19Ask for these if not provided:
20- **The reason for the visit** — new problem, follow-up, annual, or the-thing-they're-worried-about (often different from the stated reason; ask gently)
21- **The symptom story, unstructured** — let them ramble; the skill does the structuring into timeline form
22- **Medications and supplements as actually taken** — not as prescribed; the gap is clinically relevant and the sheet records reality with the discrepancy noted for discussion
23- **What they're afraid of** — the unasked question ("could this be cancer?") is the visit's real agenda; putting it on paper is how it gets answered instead of orbited
24
25## Framework: The 12-Minute Rules
26
271. **Timeline beats adjectives:** "sharp right-side pain, started ~3 weeks ago, 6/10 at worst, worse after meals, new this year" is usable; "it hurts a lot lately" restarts the interview. Every symptom gets onset / severity / pattern / modifiers / trajectory.
282. **Lead with the agenda:** "I have three things: X, Y, and the one I'm most worried about is Z" — said in the first thirty seconds — is the single highest-leverage sentence in healthcare. The sheet opens with it, verbatim.
293. **The worry goes on paper:** unspoken fears drive unfocused visits. Naming the feared diagnosis lets the clinician address it directly — including the reassurance, which only lands when the fear was actually said.
304. **The reality medication list:** what's actually taken, including the skipped doses and the turmeric — with the as-prescribed gap flagged for honest discussion, not hidden. Interactions live in the gap between the two lists.
315. **Advocacy is specific, not adversarial:** "What else could this be?", "What would we expect to change if it's X?", "If this isn't better in [time], what's the next step?", and — when dismissed — "I'd like the chart to reflect that I raised this and we decided [outcome]." Documentation requests change conversations while staying collegial.
32
33## Output Format
34
35# Visit Sheet: [appointment, date] — bring printed or on phone
36
37## The Opening (say this first)
38"I have [N] things today: [list]. The one I'm most worried about is [Z]."
39
40## Symptoms
41| Concern | Since | Severity (0–10) | Pattern / triggers | Changed how |
42|---|---|---|---|---|
43
44## Current State
45Medications as actually taken: […, with as-prescribed gaps flagged] · Supplements: … · Allergies: … · Other clinicians/recent tests: …
46
47## Questions (in priority order)
481. [the must-answer] 2. … 3. … [rest below the line — asked if time allows]
49
50## If Needed — Advocacy Lines
51Dismissed: "[the chart-documentation line]" · Alternatives: "What else could this be?" · Follow-up: "If this isn't better by [when], what's next?"
52
53> This sheet organizes communication with your clinician — it contains no medical advice, and the doctor's guidance supersedes anything in its structure.
54
55## Quality Checks
56
57- [ ] Every symptom has onset, severity, pattern, and trajectory — zero bare adjectives
58- [ ] The opening agenda sentence exists and includes the real worry
59- [ ] The medication list records reality, with prescription gaps flagged not hidden
60- [ ] Questions are ranked, top-3 above the line
61- [ ] The sheet fits one page — a sheet the visit can't absorb defeats itself
62
63## Anti-Patterns
64
65- [ ] Do not diagnose, suggest diagnoses, or rank likelihoods — structure the story; the medicine is the doctor's
66- [ ] Do not bury the scary question in item 7 — the worry leads or the visit orbits it
67- [ ] Do not sanitize the medication reality — the skipped doses are clinical data
68- [ ] Do not script confrontation — advocacy lines are collegial, specific, and documentable
69- [ ] Do not build a three-page dossier — one page is the format clinicians can actually use mid-visit
Mohit Aggarwal