[wrs]

Absolutely. Doctors are highly trained professionals who are used to having to translate and simplify, and nowadays even deal with patients who’ve way over-Googled or over-Fox-Newsed and come in stubbornly misinformed, so they may develop a default setting that’s a little reserved and even defensive. Think of working a helpdesk for some system that’s barely understood even by experts, but where all problems are urgent.

If you are able to come across as rational, observant, practical, respectful of their expertise and experience, but also confident that you are the only one seeing the complete picture, 90% of the time this unlocks a much more collaborative interaction. And yes, it’s usually a huge relief to the doctor!