THE USE OF A MEDICAL INTERVIEWER—An Assistant Who Saves the Physician Time and the Patient Money

For dealing economically yet effectively with patients who are being made sick by psychic burdens rather than by “simple” organic disease, a trained interviewer who follows a formal outline in obtaining information from patients, can be of great assistance.The physician who makes use of the services of such an interviewer should select a person with good qualifications for the job and then train her for it. It is also up to the physician to get the patient to accept the idea of interview by such an assistant.After the interview, the interviewer prepares a typewritten summary for the physician for use as a guide in discussing means of treatment and prevention of psychosomatic illness with the patient.The method saves the physician much time, the patients much money, and has resulted in many gratifying therapeutic successes.