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I tried to translate directly from my native language and the word was meet though I highly doubt it.

The sentence is:

Patients can meet a doctor by scheduling an appointment or visit the clinic and wait until the doctor is available.

Could you help please?

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    Unrelated to the actual question: you should either use visiting ... waiting or get rid of the by-or structure
    – blgt
    Commented Apr 7, 2015 at 14:52

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We normally say "see a doctor" when we are talking about going to a doctor for diagnosis or treatment.

I'd be hard pressed to give a reason why "meet" is wrong here, but it's just not what fluent speakers normally say.

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    A situation which in which "meet" would make sense would be if a prospective patient wishes to select a doctor as his or her primary physician, without needing immediate medical attention. Then his interaction would be aimed at determining if he trusts the doctor. So "meet" would have a somewhat less purely medical meaning than then more usual "see".
    – WhatRoughBeast
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 0:00
  • @WhatRoughBeast True. Perhaps we should clarify that "meet" is routinely used for any sort of gathering in a business context, usually used as "meet with". "We will meet with the client tomorrow." "Did you meet with the boss about this?" It is often used to describe a first encounter of any sort. "A friend set me up on a date with Sally. I will meet her tomorrow." "Columbus expected to meet people from India." Etc. Also a planned encounter. "Let's meet at the bowling alley."
    – Jay
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 4:35
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    It's funny that we say "see a doctor", because the essence of an exam is that the doctor sees you! (Of course, the nurse says "the doctor will see you now".) But it would be too cumbersome to say "make an appointment to be seen by the doctor".
    – Brian Hitchcock
    Commented Apr 8, 2015 at 6:55

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