3. AI for Obgyn - How to Talk to Claude: The Skill That Changes Everything

Two people. Same tool. Completely different results. Here is why.

I teach this to our doctors now. Not how to use Claude -- how to talk to it.

The tool is only as good as the question. That is true of consultants, of literature searches, of colleagues you ask for advice. It is especially true of AI, because AI will give you a confident-sounding answer regardless of whether your question was good enough to deserve one.

The difference between a vague prompt and a precise one is not a small improvement. In my experience, it is the difference between an answer I can use and one I ignore. This issue covers the principles that make that difference, with specific examples from ObGyn practice.

The single most important habit

Tell Claude who you are, what you need, and what format you want. Every time. In that order.

Most people ask Claude the way they would type into Google -- short, keyword-based. That produces a Google-style answer: broad, generic, and not particularly useful for clinical decision-making.

Here is the same question asked two ways:

Prompt: What is the treatment for preeclampsia?

versus:

Prompt: I am an ObGyn. My patient is 34 weeks with severe preeclampsia, BP 158/105, on magnesium sulfate. She is asking whether she needs to deliver now or whether we can manage expectantly for another week. Summarize the current evidence on expectant management of severe preeclampsia at 34 weeks, with absolute risk numbers, and give me the key points from ACOG guidance.

The second prompt takes 20 extra seconds to write. The response is ten times more useful. That ratio -- small investment, large return -- holds for almost every clinical question.

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