ABSTRACT
A medical interview should allow you to obtain the most accurate possible account of the patient’s illness, and the events in the patient’s life that are relevant to it, within a reasonably short time. If time is not to be wasted, you must create conditions from the outset so that the patient finds it easy to talk to you. To start with, you must look like a member of the medical staff. On the general wards this is quite easy since you will be wearing a white coat, but in settings like the department of psychiatry or in general practice it is important that you dress in such a way that patients who may be much older than you nevertheless see you as someone from whom help may be sought.
