Port in the Storm How to Make a Medical Decision and Live to Tell About It by Cole A. Giller, MD, PhD QUESTIONS FOR DR. GILLER You are a neurosurgeon and for the past twelve years, you have counseled your patients on making life or death medical decisions. What have been the biggest pressures your patients have faced when making a decision? You claim that medical decisions should be based on a patient’s personal beliefs and preferences. How can you be the expert on this topic? You personally know something about this because you had cancer when you were a young man. How did making your own health decisions affect your outlook on medical decision-making in general? According to you, there are 6 steps to making a medical decision. What are they? Is there ever a right decision when making a medical decision? You say one of the steps to making a medical decision is to identify the tradeoffs. What do you mean? What are some of the most common influences that affect people when trying to make a medical decision? Talk about some of your patients’ success stories. Was there a time when their intuitions were more accurate than what their tests/diagnosis recommended? Are you ever concerned about the influence you may be having on your patient’s decision? How has the role of the physician changed over the years when guiding a patient in making a medical decision? How can patients educate themselves when facing a medical decision? You have an entire section on researching health information on the Net and you mention that the information is often inaccurate. Which search engines are the most accurate and will not mislead us? What are the hallmarks of an accurate web-site? What are the three most important factors a patient must keep in mind when making an important medical decision? Click here to return to book details