Patient Perspectives:

Each will be paired up with a dialysis patient at a local dialysis unit. Please
dress professionally for the encounter. Students will be expected to meet
with their assigned patients and spend some time speaking with to them
while they are on treatment (~1-2hrs). Students will be required to submit
a worksheet/ paragraph summarizing their interactions. Additionally, your
experiences will be shared and discussed further in small groups during our
CCL session on Jan 23rd
The worksheet below contains just some examples of questions to discuss
with your patient. Please use this as a loose guide to your conversation.
Goals: 1) To understand the natural course, presentation, and
complications of renal disease
2) To understand the impact of renal disease on patients daily life
3) To understand patient/physician factors that may deter the success
of medical therapies
4) To appreciate the importance of listening to and understanding
the patients perspective as a vital tool in the success of our
prescribed therapies

It is much more important to know what sort of a patient

has a disease
than what sort of a disease a patient has.-william osler
1. When were you diagnosed with kidney disease? How old were you?
2. What was the cause of your kidney disease?
3. What symptoms were you having at the time of diagnosis?
4. What did you know about your medical health at the time of
diagnosis?
5. Do you or did you have any friends/family with similar diseases?
6. How did you feel about the diagnosis?
7. When did you start dialysis?

8. What issues do you have with dialysis? Concerns?

9. What symptoms if any do you have on dialysis? After dialysis?
10.
What do you do for fun? On your dialysis days and non-dialysis
days?
11.
What do you find hardest about dialysis? What is the best (if
any)?
12.
Who do you live with? Do they have any trouble adjusting to
dialysis? If so, how?
13.

What other health issues do you have?

14.

What about transplant? Have you considered? Why or why not?

15.
Any trouble with your medications? Any trouble paying for it,
getting it or taking it?
16.
Do you have any trouble sticking with the renal diet? If so,
what?
17.

Do you have any trouble caring for yourself? If so, what?

18.

Who is your support system?

19.
As a physician to be, what is one thing you would want me to
learn?