English term
summoning/ calling/ notifying a patient ( for a meeting )
Is it to:
summon a patient
calling a patient
notifying a patient
This request for a meeting is not necessarily done by telephone.
PRO (2): R.S., Anita du Plessis
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Responses
calling / asking a patient to attend a meeting
If one wanted to be polite, one would say 'invite a patient to attend...' — but if it is more peremptory, then one of the other options might be better.
I would avoid 'summon' — that really does sound like an order.
'call' is fine (even if the telephone is not involved!)
I would avoid 'notify', since that suggests simply inform the patient that the meeting is taking palce, without specifically insisting that they should attend.
As ever, if only you gave us the proper context to work with, we could do a better job of helping you.
I'd also look carefully at the use of the word 'meeting' — if this is just an individual meeting between doctor / patient, I'd be more inclined to say 'consultation', for example.
Spain
20 years producing 100% natural English
Native in: English (Variant: British) 
Works in: English, French to English
request a patient (to come for a meeting)
A previous answerer has already said why some verbs are not suitable. I would use notify for a meeting that had already been talked about with the patient, and this was just to notify them of the time and date. If the patient doesn't know anything about a need for the meeting, then I would say you would ask/request them to come (and notify them of the time and place).
| neutral |
David Hollywood
: all makes good sense to me Sheila :) will depend on context as always :)
3 mins
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worked for int. orgs (IMF, OAS, IDB)
Native in: English
Works in: Spanish to English, German to English
notify a patient (to attend)
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Note added at 5 mins (2009-08-10 20:17:57 GMT)
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if the patient is already in treatment (and that would be the logical conclusion here) I would say "notify"
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Note added at 8 mins (2009-08-10 20:21:04 GMT)
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"summon" would be used in a legal context (e.g. summon to a hearing)
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Note added at 9 mins (2009-08-10 20:22:30 GMT)
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"call" could be used in a commercial context (e.g. call shareholders to attend a meeting)
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Note added at 12 mins (2009-08-10 20:24:37 GMT)
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a more general idea would be "call" a patient to attend a consultatation with the doctor ...
there are a lot of ways to say this so up to you to decide :)
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Note added at 23 mins (2009-08-10 20:35:43 GMT)
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oops ... should read "consultation" and I prefer this to "meeting" in a medical context ...
| agree |
MD Taher
: way 2 go
13 mins
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thanks Mohamed and as Tony says, it will depend on the specific context ...
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| neutral |
Tony M
: Personally, I'd tend to avoid 'notify', since there is an unwanted connotation of 'draw the patient's attention to a meeting' (without necessarily underlining the fact that they should / must attend)
14 mins
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I agree that we need more context to be more helpful Tony and take your comments on board :)
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recall (the patient)
Of course, it implies that the patient has been seen at least once in the past. Had he never been seen before, this would be a sort of solicitation, which we physicians don't do.
| agree |
Tony M
: I had to laugh about your mention of 'solicitation' — my GP here once rang up to see if I was alright, which struck me as odd! Will the Fire Brigade ring next to ask me if my house is on fire...?
7 mins
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Thanks Tony! We generally don't call patients unless for one reason or another we think there may be something wrong. We also have some new initiatives here in BC, modelled somewhat after the British NHS which encourages pro-active follow-up for some cond
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| agree |
robin25
8 hrs
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Thanks Robin!
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| agree |
Anita du Plessis
: Yes, and in clinical trials they also use "recall" when the participant must come in again.
10 hrs
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Thanks Anita!
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