Abstract
The symptoms encountered by the family physician are complex mixtures of physical, social, and psychologic components. The initial symptom offered by the patient must be considered a starting point in the medical history, following which the physician uses the various communication techniques described in Chapter 39 to elicit details of the medical history. The ultimate aim of medical history taking is the formulation of working hypotheses which can be validated or denied with subsequent historical data, physical examination, laboratory determinations, and continuing observation of the patient’s progress.
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Vinger, I. (1978). Symptoms and the Medical History. In: Taylor, R.B. (eds) Family Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3999-2_42
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-3999-2_42
Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4757-4001-1
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