{"id":1621849,"date":"2026-02-20T21:23:26","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:23:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/?p=1621849"},"modified":"2026-02-20T21:23:26","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T02:23:26","slug":"use-tech-have-conversations-with-your-family-doctor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/use-tech-have-conversations-with-your-family-doctor\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Use Technology to Have More Informed Conversations With Your Family Doctor"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The average visit with a family doctor in Canada lasts just 10\u201315 minutes.* That doesn\u2019t leave much room for small talk, which means being prepared matters. Advocating for your health starts before you ever step into the exam room.<\/p>\n

Living with hypertension<\/a>, I track my blood pressure several times a week and use Apple Health to monitor trends like my heart rate. If I\u2019m feeling unwell, I\u2019ll take an ECG using my Apple Watch.<\/a>\u00a0I try to book appointments after my annual breast MRI (breast cancer runs in my family) so I can address any questions right away. I also keep an eye on changes in moles and other symptoms. Having my health information at my fingertips helps me arrive informed and makes our limited time together more productive.<\/p>\n

To better understand how technology can support more meaningful doctor visits, I spoke with Dr. Sheila Wijayasinghe \u2014 a nationally recognized family physician and health communicator known for making complex medical topics accessible and empowering. With over 20 years of clinical experience and a decade as the resident health expert on CTV’s The Social<\/em>, she translates everything from menopause to patient self-advocacy into practical, real-world guidance.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s her take on how technology can help you prepare and have more informed conversations with your family doctor.<\/p>\n

With appointments with family doctors often limited to 10\u201315 minutes, how can patients use technology to arrive more prepared for their appointment?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Time is short with your family doctor or nurse practitioner, so we want to be thoughtful and\u00a0 efficient coming in. Whether you use a wearable device or a simple notebook, try to notice patterns ahead of time and summarize them in one or two sentences. For example, \u201cMy sleep has been under six hours most nights for the past month,\u201d or \u201cMy resting heart rate seems higher than usual.\u201d That clarity helps us spend less time gathering information and more time understanding what is happening.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Many people collect a lot of health data but don\u2019t know how to interpret it. What metrics tend to be the most clinically useful in primary care?<\/h4>\n
\n

In primary care, the most helpful information tends to be resting heart rate trends, sleep duration patterns, hypertension notifications, and irregular rhythm alerts. These can offer insight into cardiovascular health and overall stress on the body. What matters most is consistency over time, and that can come from a device or from tracking symptoms yourself.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n

How can patients pair subjective symptoms like fatigue, stress, or poor sleep the health data they collected to have more meaningful conversations with their family doctor?<\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

If you are feeling tired, look at what was happening during that same period. Were you sleeping less? Was stress higher? Did your activity levels change? Even saying, \u201cI have felt exhausted for six weeks and my sleep has been fragmented,\u201d helps connect the dots. When your lived experience and your observations line up, it makes the conversation more meaningful.<\/p>\n

\n
\n