Sixteen questions worth asking before you agree to anything — what each one is really testing, and what a good answer sounds like.
A first consultation is a two-way assessment. The clinic is working out whether a treatment suits you; you should be working out whether the clinic suits you. These are the questions that reliably separate a considered clinical service from a sales process. None of them are rude, and a good practitioner will be pleased you asked.
Take the list with you. Write the answers down — partly because you will forget, and partly because writing them down changes how carefully they get given.
You are entitled to know who is taking clinical responsibility for you. A registration number lets you check the public register yourself in about two minutes. Reluctance to answer this is the single most useful red flag there is.
A form is not a consultation. Find out whether there is a real two-way conversation, how long it runs, and whether you can speak to the same person again at review.
Prescribing rights are broad; experience is not. It is reasonable to ask how many patients they manage on this treatment and what outcomes they typically see.
Every treatment plan needs an escalation path. A clinic that has thought about adverse events will answer immediately; one that has not will improvise.
You can verify the answer to question one yourself, free, on the public AHPRA register. We have written a walkthrough at how to check a prescriber.
This is the question that reframes everything else. It should get a direct, unembarrassed answer — the two categories carry different evidence and different expectations.
Listen for the difference between randomised human trials and animal studies. Both are legitimate to discuss; presenting the second as the first is not.
You want a specific list and a specific threshold, not general reassurance. If the honest answer is that long-term data does not exist, that is worth hearing plainly.
A prescription in your name, dispensed by an Australian pharmacy, is the line between a medicine and a grey-market product. Ask where it is compounded if it is compounded.
This tests whether they actually took a history. If nobody asked what else you take, nobody can have checked.
Question five is the important one. If the distinction is unfamiliar, read compounded vs registered medicines first — it takes five minutes and it changes what you hear in the answer.
Baseline pathology gives you something to compare against later. Starting without it means any change afterwards is unattributable.
Ask for the schedule in writing. Also ask what happens to results that come back abnormal — who calls you, and how quickly.
Agree on the measure and the timeframe up front. Without them, an ineffective treatment can quietly continue indefinitely.
Some therapies need tapering or have effects that reverse when you stop. A plan that has no exit was not really a plan.
Consultations, pathology, medicine and review fees add up differently to the advertised monthly figure. Ask for the annual number, including the tests.
Understand the commitment before you start, particularly whether cancelling is possible mid-cycle and whether medicine already dispensed is refundable.
A fair question, asked politely. Knowing how a clinic makes money helps you weigh the advice you are given.
None of these is proof of anything on its own. Together, they describe a service that has optimised for conversion rather than care:
Before the appointment, get clear on what you actually want to change and how you would know if it had changed. A specific goal — a measurement, a symptom, a function you have lost — makes the whole conversation better, and makes it much easier to tell later whether the treatment did anything. Our before you start checklist covers the rest of the preparation, including what to have ready about your history.
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