Women's attitudes to the sex of medical students in a gynaecology clinic: cross sectional survey.

Doctors do not risk being swamped by their patients’ complaints if they listen until a patient indicates that his or her list of complaints is complete. Even in a busy practice driven by time constraints and financial pressure, two minutes of listening should be possible and will be sufficient for nearly 80% of patients. We gathered data in a tertiary referral centre that is characterised by a selection of difficult patients with complex histories. Patients in less selected groups might need even less time to complete their initial statement.