“It is more important to know what sort of person has a disease than to know what sort of disease a person has.”

This is a quote from Hippocrates, the father of medicine, 2500 years ago.

It is as true today as it was back then. When I’m about to see a patient for the first time and review their chart, it’s always been my habit to get to the social history as quickly as I can (often before reading the medical history).

I’m very curious to know what people do for their jobs, their family situation and where they live.