Important history taking techniques- OTC meds

[SMHVET]

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Great post on the veterinarians behaving badly website on OTC meds. Taking a history is the base of a good exam. It takes a while to get the "patter" down. Good advice regarding how to suss out what OTC meds a patient is taking. Sometimes if you don't ask about specific medications/supplements, owners will forget about them.

http://vetsbehavingbadly.blogspot.com/2012/02/btw-over-counter-medications-are-not.html

 

[Psorophoraferox]

I like the comment about having both the tech and the doctor asking about patient histories. Even if a client is trying to be completely, fully open and honest about a pet's care, routine or seemingly minor things can slip their minds! The time between when a tech leaves the room and the doctor comes in does often help jog the memory. And/or it gives them time to phone the family member who knows more about the daily care routine. 😉

Somewhat relatedly, having multiple people ask about the same thing reinforces its importance. At my hospital, we use this to drive home the point that heartworm prevention is really, really, super duper important. The tech asks if Fluffy is on heartworm preventative when getting the history, the doctor asks during the exam, and (if they haven't already requested it) at check-out the client is asked if they need it refilled.