The present chapter is mainly focused on teaching medical students and
junior doctors how to take a history of patients. After taking the history, it's useful to
give the patient a run-down of what they've told you as you understand it. For example:
'Mohammed, from what I understand you've been losing weight, feeling sick, had
trouble swallowing - particularly meat - and the whole thing's been getting you down.
Is that right?' If there is a nod of approval or expressed agreement with the story then
it's fairly certain you're getting what the patient wanted to tell you. If not, then you may
need to try another approach. This technique can avoid incorrect assumptions by the
doctor.
Keywords: Chief complaint, Family history, History of present illness, Past medical and surgical history, Social history.
