When a GP Asks ‘What Can I Do for You Today?’, Where Should You Start?

Geoffrey Chen

Why Do Australians Say It This Way? · Season Three: Making It Clear · Article 25

You sit down in the consulting room and the GP begins with an ordinary question: What can I do for you today?, What brings you in?, or perhaps simply How can I help?

It can feel like an open-ended English test. Some patients worry that an incomplete story will be misleading, so they begin months earlier. Others answer I haven’t been feeling well and wait for the doctor to guess the next question. The GP is not asking for a polished speech about your health. They first need to know what should receive attention today; the detail can follow.

A useful opening can be only two sentences:

I’ve had a cough for about three weeks, and it’s getting worse at night.
I’m also getting short of breath when I walk upstairs.

That gives the symptom, its duration, a change over time and an example of its effect on daily activity. The vocabulary is not advanced, but the information is precise.

Give the GP a map before the journey

If you have several concerns, do not save the second one for the moment when the GP is already ending the consultation. You might begin:

I have two things I’d like to ask about. The main one is this chest pain, and I also need to discuss a repeat prescription.

This does not guarantee that everything can be resolved in one standard appointment. It allows you and the GP to decide what is most important and whether another appointment is needed. The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care encourages patients to share their history, circumstances, goals and preferences. Healthdirect recommends preparing questions and bringing a list of prescription medicines, over-the-counter products, vitamins and supplements. Names, doses and how often you take them are more informative than a little white tablet.

The opening account will often benefit from five kinds of information: where the problem is, when it began, whether it has changed, how severe it is and what it prevents you from doing. If you have a particular fear, you may say so: I’m worried this could be serious because… The GP will not treat your internet diagnosis as established fact. They will, however, know what concern needs an answer.

Make “it really hurts” easier to investigate

There is nothing wrong with saying It really hurts. The difficulty is that really does not have a stable medical measurement. The GP may ask where the pain is, what it feels like, what brings it on and how long it lasts. You do not need to memorise a catalogue of pain adjectives. Everyday facts can do a great deal of work:

The pain wakes me up twice most nights.
I can still walk, but I had to stop after about five minutes yesterday.
It started suddenly after lunch and lasted around twenty minutes.

These descriptions do not diagnose the problem for the doctor. They turn an experience into information that can be compared and followed up. If you cannot remember an exact date, about three weeks, since last Thursday or on and off for a few months is better than false precision.

Australian conversational understatement can become unhelpful in a consulting room. A bit sore and not too bad may sound friendly and calm, yet give the GP little basis for judging the impact. You can keep the natural tone and add a concrete fact: It’s not unbearable, but it has stopped me sleeping properly for four nights.

Polite nodding is not informed understanding

One risky language habit in health care is pretending to understand so that the conversation continues smoothly. If a term is unfamiliar, try:

Could you explain that in plain English?
When you say “monitor it”, what changes should I look for?
Could I check that I’ve understood? I take one tablet twice a day, with food—is that right?

The Commission’s Ask, Share, Know material suggests asking about your options, their possible benefits and harms, and how likely those outcomes are. Repeating an instruction in your own words can expose a difference in understanding before you leave. It is not disrespectful. It is one of the ways a decision becomes usable.

If English makes it difficult to participate fully, ask about interpreting when you book. A family member may provide valuable support, but professional interpreting may be more suitable where privacy, accuracy or a complex decision matters. Arrangements differ between clinics, hospitals and services, so confirm what is available beforehand.

Turn the closing words into a next step

Let’s see how you go cannot safely remain a vague expression in medical care. Ask how long to observe the problem, what change should prompt another contact, who will communicate test results and where to seek help if the condition becomes worse:

If it isn’t better, when should I come back?
Will the clinic contact me with the result, or should I book another appointment?
Which symptoms mean I should seek urgent help?

This article is about communication in an ordinary consultation, not about deciding whether a symptom is dangerous. For a life-threatening or time-critical emergency, call Triple Zero (000); do not delay urgent help while trying to organise the perfect description.

The GP’s opening is broad because they do not yet know where today’s problem begins. A good response does not sound like a medical report. State the main concern, then add time, change and practical impact. Say what worries you and make room for what you have not understood. Effective medical English is not the ability to use the largest number of clinical terms. It is the ability to give the clinician information they can act on, and to leave with a plan you can understand and carry out.

Primary sources and further reading

Continue reading: Why Do Australians Say It This Way? — series page

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