Care by the Ear: The increasing role of history taking

History taking and clinical interviewing is usually the start of medical contact with patients with chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus in primary care. The current novel corona virus-19 epidemic has limited our ability to conduct in-person consultations with patients as before and most of us limit physical contact to the minimum. This has made the process of history taking either by virtual consultations or physically in our offices but by maintaining appropriate physical distance more important than even before. This review summarizes an easy-to-understand hierarchy of questioning to help us in maximizing the information obtained by history taking. We initiate the clinical interview with a warm welcome and first focus on the primary felt need of the patient. Then we interview the patient about his duration and current control of his diabetes. The second part of the interview focuses on current clinical status including reviewing for complications and co-morbidities. The third part focuses on current ongoing management including life style, diet, glucose lowering and other drugs and the use of complementary and alternative medicines. The fourth part of the interview focuses on emotional status including religious and cultural beliefs about diabetes management and presence of diabetes related distress. Special attention should be paid to the financial status of patients who are paying for their treatment out of pocket. The interview should conclude with summarization of current issues with regards to diabetes management and a therapeutic plan individualized for the patient.