The blog, Shots , posted a question primer to prepare patients for medical office visits with their doctors. A reaction to this appeared on Glass Hospital , where John Schumann offered his own wry version of the question list. My less wryer, and more drier response appears below. While I agree with Shots that education is power, a closer look at the question list demonstrates that the intent to educate may obfuscate instead. First, the post is entitled, Ten Questions to Ask Your Doctor, suggesting that patients arrive at their physician’s office armed with 10 inquiries spanning a spectrum of medical knowledge and philosophy including medical treatment strategy, physician qualifications, risks of treatment, medical treatment alternatives, choice of hospitals and even how to spell the names of their medications. (I guess Shots believes that spelling counts!) Some of the questions sound reasonable, but could patients make sense out of the answers? For example, Shots suggests asking
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