Table 2.

Stages of the oncological visit (Fatigante et al., 2021).

Stage	Definition
Openings	It includes greeting sequences, sequences of small talk that bridge the participants' official entrance into the business of the visit, followed by identification sequences (such as, the request and registration of the patient's name and address). It is routinely accompanied by the opening and writing of the patient's record.
History taking	It includes the oncologist's activity of questioning regarding the clinical history of the patient (including present and past illnesses, surgical interventions, current pharmacological treatments, etc.), beyond the recent cancer diagnosis. It is relevant in order for the oncologist to assess cancer comorbidities, useful to plan a treatment recommendation that has no harmful consequences for that particular patient (Zucchermaglio et al., 2016; Pino et al., 2021)
Cancer problem presentation	This stage includes the patient's description and narrative regarding the current cancer problem: when it has been discovered, how, when the patient has undergone surgery etc. It is quite short in Site 1, where the oncologist only asks how the patient discovered it and then asks the patient to see the documents; in Site 2, the patients and companions are left more time to build narratives of the realization of the tumor and events that follow that, which can develop across several turns
Cancer diagnostic assessment	Also corresponding for the most part to what in oncology is referred to as the “staging” of the cancer, the diagnostic assessment stage includes the examination of tests brought by the patient (mammography, ultrasounds, surgical reports, and primarily the histological exam) and the explanations given to the patient about the figures and tests
Treatment recommendation	It comprises the presentation and discussion about the treatment options. It includes even lengthy and highly complex explanations about the risks and benefits of the treatment. It also sometimes, but not routinely, include reference to collateral effects and prognostic assessments.
{Physical examination}	Physical examination may occur either to aid in the diagnosis of the cancer size, location or progression or to assess the post-surgical scar on patient's body
Outline of future actions	It comprises the oncologist's verbal recommendation and written prescriptions of next appointments, exams; it also includes instructions about the practical management of the illness (e.g., changes in work agenda, whom to call if the patient feel sick after the treatment etc.)
Closings	It is marked by the participants' orientation to the closing of the official business of the visit, such as, closing, removing documents from the table and folding them, acknowledgments, greeting sequences