Advocating For Yourself at the Doctor’s Office

Tips for being assertive at your yearly health checkups.

This is an article I never really thought I wanted to write, but I feel like this is a topic I don’t hear many people talking about. To give a little background on myself, I am a young and healthy individual and have been lucky enough (knock on wood) to not have to go to the doctor’s office too many times in my life. I’ve also been fortunate enough to have a parent in the medical field who would always advocate for me at my doctor’s appointments. I am also a minority and a woman of color who has always had a white doctor. So, why is any of this important? Well, in my short few years of going to doctor’s appointments alone, I’ve realized that if I don’t advocate for myself and my health concerns, no one is going to do it for me.

Advocating for yourself at a doctor’s office can look like a lot of things. It can be as simple as coming to the appointment prepared with any questions or concerns you might have. For many years, I thought that because I was healthy, I shouldn’t have any questions for my doctor. This is far from true. Whether it is being a woman with reproductive health questions, or being a young healthy person with a family that has a history of heart disease, there is almost always at least one question you can ask your doctor.

Without getting too much into my medical history, I’ve noticed that it can be really hard to look at me externally and know what my health problems might be. With my family history, my risk for any sort of heart related disease is exponentially higher. If I don’t bring this topic up in my doctor’s appointment, it can be easily overlooked especially because I am of a minority race going to a doctor who is white.

Here are a couple of things that I do before going to the doctor’s office and at the doctor’s office:

• write up any concerns I’ve had about my health in the past year.
• do my research!! not to the point where I think I have some deathly disease, but to the point where I’m informed about that health issue.
• ask questions and ask follow up questions until I fully understand the answer to those questions.
• don’t be afraid of getting a second opinion.
• always read about the side effects of any medication before going on it (there are almost always side effects, especially if it is any form of an oral contraceptive).
• if anyone is doing an invasive procedure, I can always ask for someone else to be in the room
• make sure to talk about family history and any concerns regarding familial health problems
• take notes during the appointment

It’s also important to be assertive in general and acknowledge that your feelings are always valid. Thanks for tuning in to my weekly spewing of thoughts. Take care, and good luck :)