Clinical Historical Connections.
Patient medical history is often a crucial step in evaluating patients. Information gathered by doing a thorough medical history can have life or death consequences. In less extreme cases medical history will often direct care. An example of a patient with a history of breast cancer on chemotherapeutic drugs with a cough may show a need for further workup of a patient with an immunocompromised
state versus a healthy patient with no chronic disease.
Importance of Medical History
History National Library of Medicine — In general, a medical history includes an inquiry into the patient's medical history, past surgical history, family medical history, social history, allergies, and medications the patient is taking or may have recently stopped taking. — Jonathan R. Nichol; Joshua Henrina Sundjaja; Grant Nelson.
What is Medical History?
2. Medical History — An international journal for the history of medicine and related sciences.
Medical History is a refereed journal devoted to all aspects of the history of medicine, health and related sciences, with the goal of broadening and deepening the understanding of the field, in the widest sense, by historical studies of the highest quality. It is associated with the Asian Society for the History of Medicine. The membership of the Editorial Board reflects the commitment to the finest international standards in refereeing of submitted papers and the reviewing of books. The journal publishes in English, but welcomes submissions from scholars for whom English is not the first language; language and copy-editing assistance will be provided wherever possible. — Medical History: Cambridge College University Press.
Physician Connection
3. Why the Patient History Is So Important — The medical interview or consultation influences the precision of diagnosis and treatment, and studies have indicated that over 80 percent of diagnoses in general medical clinics are based on the medical history. —Epstein, Perkin, Cook, et al. Clinical Examination, 4th Ed. (2008). Mosby, Ltd.