Dear Doctor

Dear Doctor,

I'm writing to you in preparation for our appointment next week in regards to my ongoing knee pain. I have great respect for Doctors, I've worked with many wonderful physicians over the years, smart, quick, responsible, but I have also encountered many as a patient, been laughed at, judged, misdiagnosed, treated unfairly.

So I thought, in order to assist us both in making the process easier and more efficient i would come up with terms of behaviour, so that we may respect each other and achieve the outcomes we desire.

I will

• Arrive on time
• Explain my problem in a succinct manner
• Tell you whether I am prepared to do what you ask of me
• Thank you
• Appreciate your ability to refer when you feel you don't understand the situation

You will

• Apologise for keeping me waiting
  
• Listen to me
• Ask questions to clarify my explanation
• Respect that I am an intelligent individual
• Do a proper assessment
• Understand that this is my knee, the knee that means I can't be as active as I want, the knee that means I've given up on bush walking, running, squatting, the knee that may mean nothing to you, oh Dr, but means everything to me.

Thank you for your time, I look forward to working with you to get me back out there.

Yours in gratitude,
Berni

"Surgeons must be very careful
When they take the knife!
Underneath their fine incisions
Stirs the Culprit - Life!"

Emily Dickinson