Inexperienced clinicians prescribed medications and assume that patients are taking them. I can only smile sadly at that and shake my head, remembering how I did the same thing early in my career.
After gaining a few years of clinical experience, I did learn that it was important that I ask about medication adherence, but I would ask a simple, direct question like, “Have you been taking your medication regularly?”
And, after a few more years (and a lot more grey hair!), I learned why asking about medication adherence is a difficult but valuable skill for all of us to gain and continually improve.
Here are some tips about this.