Past medical history

 Description: a patient's health status prior to the current visit 

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[2]

 Goals
o Identifying important clues and contributing factors regarding the current
concern.
o Developing a holistic approach to patient care
 Key elements
o Childhood illnesses
o Major adult illnesses 
o Past surgical history, including type, date, and location of past surgical
procedures 
o Medications 
 Prescription drugs
 Over-the-counter drugs

 Herbal remedies
 Doses and frequencies
o Allergies
 Drugs or environmental factors 
 Reaction to each 
allergen
 
 Food intolerance 
o Prior injuries (e.g., motor vehicle accidents, falls)
o Prior hospitalizations and/or 
transfusions

o Immunizations
o Screening exams (e.g., 
Pap smear
, mammogram, 
colonoscopy
)
o Psychiatric illnesses, including any psychological intervention or hospitalization
 To remember the key points of 

past medical history

, recall the mnemonic PAM HITS FOSS.

 PAM HITS FOSS

o Past medical history
o Allergies including drug names and associated adverse effects
o Medications, including over-the-counter as well as prescription medications, and
compliance
o Hospitalization in the past
o Ill contacts
o Trauma
o Surgery
o Family history
o OB/GYN procedures
o Sexual history
o Social history