Preparing your medical records for a second opinion

A written second opinion is only as good as the records behind it. Collect the pathology report, the imaging study together with its radiology report, laboratory results, and any previous treatment or discharge summary. Ask your hospital for imaging on a disc or as files rather than printed pictures, because a specialist needs to look at the images themselves. Note the dates: studies older than a few months are often repeated, not because the first test was wrong, but because disease can change. Keep the originals; send copies. If a document is in Bengali, a certified translation may be requested — the coordinator will say which documents need one before anything is sent.