Updated September 17, 2014.

In its simplest terms, we visit our doctor's office to stay healthy (prevention), or to get cured (treatment).

Therefore the last thing you would want to do is pick up germs left behind by someone else that could potentially make you sick.

I don't want that to happen to you, so let's create a checklist of steps you can take at your next visit to the clinic to lower your chances of picking up a germ that can potentially cause you to get sick.

The Registration Desk

Some of these tips will seem a bit paranoid, but I've seen way too many examples that are still occurring every day where people are acquiring viruses in seemingly mundane ways.

Tip: Bring your own pen.

Remember, the pen sitting on the clipboard or registration desk that you are expected to use to fill out any of the clinic's registration forms has been used by many people, many sick people, before you. They have left their cold virus on that pen. It's too easy for you to simply bring your own and use it whenever you're asked to fill out a form at your doctor's office.

Tip: Use hand sanitizer before and after you visit the registration desk.

You can bring your own, or you can use the sanitizing stations that most clinics now have mounted to their walls in various locations. Here's why: Bringing your own pen is a good defensive measure, but there are other surfaces you'll have to touch that you can replace with your own.

For example, you may be asked to hand the registration clerk your insurance card.

That means that clerk has handled the registration cards of all the sick people who came before you. Their germs are on her hands now, and she'll pass them along to your card when she hands it back to you.

The same idea applies to the chair you may be sitting in at the registration desk. The arms on that chair have been touched by the hands of many sick people before you. Those germs will pass from the arms and upholstery of the chair to your hands too.

You probably can't avoid the insurance card and waiting chair scenarios, so that's why you should scrub your hands with sanitizer before and after your visit to the registration desk.

Tip: Here are some other events in the clinic when you should repeat the hand sanitizer process:

• when you have your vital signs taken (blood pressure, weight, temperature) at the nurse station
• when you enter the exam room
• when you leave the exam room
• when you enter the lab
• when you leave the lab
• when you leave the clinic

In The Exam Room

In the exam room you'll meet with your doctor. 

Tip: Make sure you see her use the hand sanitizer as soon as they enter your exam room.

If they don't, it is perfectly polite and acceptable to remind your doctor to do so before you begin.

Tip: Make sure all of the instruments and disposable supplies used are unpackaged from clean stock in front of your eyes.

Incredibly, there are still occurrences where medical staff have failed to follow proper cleaning procedures and the instruments have been reused on patients before they have been fully sanitized. In fact, just this year, we know of at least 5,000 patients who have been exposed to HIV and hepatitis because medical instruments were not washed properly. 

Is This Overkill?

I absolutely believe it is not. There's simply too much at stake--your short-term health and even your life. You can implement these simple and inexpensive tips at your next doctor's visit, and you can do it in a polite and respectful way that won't insult your nurse and doctor.