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Dr. G - diagnosis
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ddnos posted:
Hi Dr. G.

A question someone else just had made me think of this - I'm sure the answer varies, but typically, how long does it take for a good, trained Psychiatrist to evaluate a new patient and come up with a diagnosis? How long, meaning, approx how many appointments does it generally take? Is it true that a psychiatrist could have a diagnosis in just one, 1-hr appointment?

Thank you
Debbie
Forgiveness is letting go of the hope that the past could have been any different --Unknown
1 Replies |Watch This Discussion | Report This| Share this:Dr. G - diagnosisHi Dr. G.<br /> <br />A question someone else just had made me think of this - I'm sure the answer varies, but typically, how long does it take for a good, trained Psychiatrist to evaluate a new patient and come up with a diagnosis? How long, meaning, approx how many appointments does it generally take? Is it true that a psychiatrist could have a diagnosis in just one, 1-hr appointment?<br /> <br />Thank you<br />Debbie
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Joseph F Goldberg, MD responded:
Dear Debbie,

Certainly depends an varies greatly on the patient, symptoms, and complexity. Florid mania takes about 5 seconds to diagnose. In someone whose presentation is not so straightforward, if there is a lot of history to cover and past treatments and outcomes and complexity, I myself typically spend a minimum of 90 minutes and often more than that, sometimes involving signficant others to provide additional information and review past records or speak with previous treaters.

I would say that a standard intial evaluation usually is about an hour but sometimes one or two or more follow-ups are wise to help clear up uncertainties.

Dr. G.
Report This| Share this:Dr. G - diagnosisDear Debbie,<br /> <br />Certainly depends an varies greatly on the patient, symptoms, and complexity. Florid mania takes about 5 seconds to diagnose. In someone whose presentation is not so straightforward, if there is a lot of history to cover and past treatments and outcomes and complexity, I myself typically spend a minimum of 90 minutes and often more than that, sometimes involving signficant others to provide additional information and review past records or speak with previous treaters. <br /> <br />I would say that a standard intial evaluation usually is about an hour but sometimes one or two or more follow-ups are wise to help clear up uncertainties.<br /> <br />Dr. G.
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