Get Inside Your Doctor's Head: 10 Commonsense Rules for Making Better Decisions about Medical Care (A Johns Hopkins Press Health Book Book 33)

With so many medical tests and treatments and so much scientific and medical information―some of it contradictory―how can people make the best medical decisions? Most medical decisions, it turns out, are based on common sense. In this short and easy-to-read book, Dr. Phillip K. Peterson explains the ten rules of internal medicine. Using real case examples he shows how following the rules will help consumers make good decisions about their medical care. __Get Inside Your Doctor’s Head__ provides advice about such questions as when to seek treatment, when to get another opinion, and when to let time take its course. Turn to the Ten Rules when you are weighing your doctor’s recommendations about diagnostic tests and treatments and use them to communicate more effectively with your doctor. As with all rules, the Ten Rules of Internal Medicine have occasional exceptions―and when evidence suggests that you are an exception, the relevant rule should be broken. Follow the Ten Rules to make decisions in the increasingly complicated medical world when you need guidance about health matters for yourself and your loved ones. Ten rules of medical decision makingand when to break them. Second Place Winner of the Design and Effectiveness Award of the Washington Publishers With so many medical tests and treatments and so much scientific and medical informationsome of it contradictoryhow can people make the best medical decisions? Most medical decisions, it turns out, are based on common sense. In this short and easy-to-read book, Dr. Phillip K. Peterson explains the ten rules of internal medicine. Using real case examples he shows how following the rules will help consumers make good decisions about their medical care. Get Inside Your Doctors Head provides advice about such questions as when to seek treatment, when to get another opinion, and when to let time take its course. Turn to the Ten Rules when you are weighing your doctors recommendations about diagnostic tests and treatments and use them to communicate more effectively with your doctor. As with all rules, the Ten Rules of Internal Medicine have occasional exceptionsand when evidence suggests that you are an exception, the relevant rule should be broken. Follow the Ten Rules to make decisions in the increasingly complicated medical world when you need guidance about health matters for yourself and your loved ones.

With so many medical tests and treatments and so much scientific and medical information—some of it contradictory—how can people make the best medical decisions?

Most medical decisions, it turns out, are based on common sense. In this short and easy-to-read book, Dr. Phillip K. Peterson explains the ten rules of internal medicine. Using real case examples he shows how following the rules will help consumers make good decisions about their medical care.

Get Inside Your Doctor’s Head provides advice about such questions as when to seek treatment, when to get another opinion, and when to let time take its course. Turn to the Ten Rules when you are weighing your doctor’s recommendations about diagnostic tests and treatments and use them to communicate more effectively with your doctor. As with all rules, the Ten Rules of Internal Medicine have occasional exceptions—and when evidence suggests that you are an exception, the relevant rule should be broken. Follow the Ten Rules to make decisions in the increasingly complicated medical world when you need guidance about health matters for yourself and your loved ones.

"This concise and accessible guide to modern healthcare explains the 10 rules of medical decision-making -- and when to break them. With so many medical tests and treatments to consider and so much information out there -- some of it contradictory -- it can be difficult to know what's right for you. In Get Inside Your Doctor's Head, Dr. Phillip K. Peterson explains the Ten Rules of Internal Medicine. Using real case examples, Peterson shows how following these commonsense rules will help you make better decisions about your medical care. Get Inside Your Doctor's Head provides advice about when to seek treatment, when to get another opinion, and when to let time take its course. Using the Ten Rules can help you communicate more effectively with doctors and help you weigh their recommendations. As with all rules, there are occasional exceptions -- and when evidence suggests that you are an exception, the relevant rule should be broken. Follow the Ten Rules to make decisions in the increasingly complicated medical world when you need guidance about health matters for yourself and your loved ones."-- Provided by Freading Introduction : applying and breaking the rules Rule 1. If you don't know what you're doing, don't do anything Rule 2. If what you're doing seems to be working, think about continuing it Rule 3. If what you're doing doesn't seem to be working, think about doing something else Rule 4. Don't agree to an invasive procedure without understanding why it's needed and without getting a second opinion Rule 5. If you don't have symptoms, a doctor can't make you feel better Rule 6. Never trust anyone completely, especially purveyors of conventional wisdom Rule 7. Most things are what they seem to be, except when they're not Rule 8. What your doctor doesn't know could kill you Rule 9. Timing is everything, and sometimes time is the cure Rule 10. Caring is always important medicine Epilogue : the participatory art of medicine Recap : the rules revisited. In simple direct language Dr. Peterson tells readers how to understand their doctors' recommendations and ask intelligent questions about their validity