Value of a physical exam

The physical exam is a dying art in medicine.  Patients know this; you may have waited longer in the waiting room or filling out forms than your doctor took to examine your condition.  There is much evidence to the value of a doctor taking the time to fully examine your body and talk with you to discover what the best course of treatment might be.

A recent article: http://nyti.ms/aGv0m4, from the New York Times, which shares Dr. Verghese's work at Stanford medical school.  As a professor, I encourage my students to spend time and effort with a thoughtful history--making a great effort to listen to a patient.  A proper exam requires time not just for talking but also for inspection, palpation, range of motion, orthopedic, and neurologic testing.  'Time' is the key.  It is not possible to consider most conditions in 20 minutes.


In practice, at Tri-Synergy Chiropractic, we reserve 90 minutes for new patient visits.  We've found the best care we can offer takes between 60-90 minutes.  We average 2-3 visits per patient with fully successful outcomes because we take the time to listen to a patient, ask key questions, and examine their body before we conclude how we might help.

The pressure other physicians feel to finish a pt visit in 15-20 minutes leads to higher use of MRI, xray, and other expensive testing, without improved healing outcomes.  This also leads to a quick prescription mentality, that encourages patients to "take two of pills and call me in a week" instead of assessing the underlying problem.  There is a great value in technology, but it will never replace the importance of a physician listening and touching their patient.