Questions we are asked
The same questions come up in almost every first conversation. Answering them in public seems better than answering them one at a time, and it lets you see how we think before you decide whether to speak to us at all.
How the practice works
These are questions about arrangements rather than about medicine, so they can be answered here.
- Does a membership replace my coverage under the provincial plan?
- No, and it cannot. Memberships cover uninsured services only. Anything covered by the BC Medical Services Plan continues to be billed to it, and access to insured physician services never depends on joining anything. A membership does not give faster access to publicly insured tests, imaging or specialist referrals either. The full wording is in the notices at the foot of every page, and you get a written record of what your membership includes before anything begins.
- Do I have to leave my family doctor?
- No. A good deal of what we do sits alongside a family practice rather than replacing it, and for people who already have a family doctor the usual arrangement is that we work with them. If you do not have one, we should talk about what that means in practice, because a membership is not a substitute for primary care and we would rather say so plainly than let you find out later.
- Am I too young, or too old, for this to be worth it?
- The honest answer is that the two ends are worth it for different reasons. Earlier, most of what shortens healthy life is still silent and the range of things that can be done about it is at its widest. Later, the work shifts toward holding function and independence, which is measurable and responds to being worked on well into the eighties. What changes with age is which of the twelve topics matter most, not whether the exercise is worth doing.
Questions a physician has to answer
These are asked at least as often, and none of them should be answered by a website. Our physicians are writing them, and each will appear here with a name against it and the date it was written. Until then they are listed rather than hidden.
- What does an assessment actually involve?
- Which tests do you run, and why those?
- How often should someone be reassessed?
- What do you do about a result that turns out to be nothing?
- Is there any point in testing if I feel fine?
- What do you make of the at-home blood-test services?
- Should I be tracking anything with a watch or a monitor?
- What would you want to know about my family history?
If yours is not here, ask it. The ones we are asked most are the ones that get written first.