title: What the patient is looking for.
abstract: 'Each patient considers his complaint as one of great peculiarity or perhaps obscurity, demanding prompt attention' (Longcope, 1962). This quote serves to illustrate the importance of examining the consultation from the patient's perspective. It is this problem that is considered in this article, the first in a series of 15.
authors.affiliation: University of Aberdeen.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Short
mesh_terms: D003142:Communication; D003219:Confidentiality; D003933:Diagnosis; D006801:Humans; D009042:Motivation; D010817:Physician-Patient Relations; D012017:Referral and Consultation