How to talk to doctors

[Markus]

Hello,

One topic, which I find interesting and like to know your experience about, is how to talk with doctors as a patient.

I got some experiences with oculists (because I'm wearing contact lenses with rare parameters) and dentists. So what are my issues with them?

Well, i realized some things:

• different doctors got different opinions, they ain't inerrable.
  For example:
  My first oculist prescribed me wrong lenses, 'causing verifiable damage to my eyes. The second one prescribed me medicine against my eye-pain. The third -at last- found out that my lenses got wrong parameters, prescribed me the right ones.
  
  
• some (how much i don't know) doctors persuade patients to make money.
  I don't want to bother you with the wired health issurance system in Germany, don't worry As a private patient they want to sell me special treatments, special X-ray methods for my teath, special toothbrush-courses (no joke), special eye-diagnostic-methods and so on...
  
  
• being a student I like to do gather much information about a certain health problem before going to a doctor. So I consider my background of knowledge to be bigger than Joe Patient.
  Sometimes I found my knowledge seemed to be bigger than the doctor's one or at least not compatible to his opinion (regrading things from x-ray-radiation-protection to inssurance accounts.)

Here is one describtive examples, that real happened to me:

[Szene 1, Markus at a dentist's office, just the once on a year check]
Dentist want to sell me a tooth-brush-course.
I decline with thanks.
He still wants to sell it and mention the advantages of the course.
I decline and try to refer to my experience on oral hygiene. My fortitude begins to vanish...
He takes a paper and draws me a teeth, he shows me a miniature jaw model and keep talking and persuading...
Usually here my fortitude is lost, I'll agree.
When I'm outside I'm angry. I have booked a course that I didn't want. I will get a bill for a special consulting (special effort, of course: paper and jaw models) that I never wanted...
On the course date, I'll apologize for being ill. I'll avoid the doctor and probably move to another one. Jump back to szene 1...

It's basically the same with the other examples (oculists...), too.
I have a feeling to be ripped-off, declared dumb and persuaded with psycho-tricks.

What do you think? How to express a doctor that you decline an offer, know something better, or simply don't want something without getting disadvantages?

[Jennihul]

Could be worse, darling, you could live in the US....

France best, U.S. worst in preventable deaths - Health care - MSNBC.com

Jennifer

[Calisto]

Doctors do seem to be getting a little fed up with people going on the net and diagnosing themselves and then going to the doctor and telling the doctor what is wrong with them rather than simply explaining as clear as they can their symptoms.