1. How to write a surgical correspondence?
Paul Lai
Surgery, CUHK

2. Workshop covers Surgical consultation
Reply letter to referring doctors
Request for imaging
Medical reports

3. Surgical Consultation
Purpose ?
Where to seek help ?
Forms of consultation ?
Written
Verbal
Written consultation form
Who is this consultation addressed to?
Patient’s particular
Current state of affairs / diseases
Clinical problem(s)
What kind of help do you want?
Can the patient wait (urgent vs. elective)?

4. Surgical Consultation (con’t)
Verbal consultation
Be courteous
Be clear
Ask for confirmation as a kind of “talk back” (especially in important cases or urgency)
Documentation on the case notes
On writing case notes
Be clear, legible writing is a must
Date, time, chop
Do not use the case note as your “war zone”
Do not put down anything that would hurt the feelings of your colleagues
Do not put down anything to diffuse your responsiblity

5. Reply letter to referring doctors
A good practice that would earn you more patients
Be courteous (do not down-grade the referring doctors in anyway)
Write clearly
Which patient you are referring to ?
(pt’s name, ID, sex, age, pt’s principle diagnosis, referring clinical problems)
What is your findings of the situation?
What you have done for the patient?
What is your plan for the patient or suggested plan for the patient?
“Thank you once again for referring your patient to me. I feel privileged in being able to help.”

6. Request for imaging Patient’s particular Clinical problems
Principle diagnosis or provisional diagnosis
Rationale for the imaging that you are requesting
(need a lot of clinical sense)
What kind of imaging you are requesting?
Urgency of the request (urgent vs. elective)
Put down your name and contact clearly (and sometimes which department you are from)

7. Medical reports
You will have the chance to write medical reports once you are medical officers
Only when you are extremely unlucky during your internship if you are to write one [you might have a medical incident to write on]
Format
One key attitude in writing medical reports
Include only factual account of the patient
No emotions attached
No comments are to be made in medical reports unless you are the expert witness