Non-Americans, what's it like when you're sick and need to go to the doctor?
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From US and was visiting Singapore when I came down with a sinus infection.
Took the elevator from the government controlled housing to the ground floor.
Walked 5 minutes to the attached small community strip mall which consisted of cheap food options, a grocery/convenience store, and a number of essential stores including a small drs office.
Waited 15 minutes, saw the dr. Explained my condition, allergies and medication I usually take and went through the exam. We had to help look up some of the medication names.
Paid $35 for the exam. There was some confusion because I expected it to cost more and I asked about. They apologized and said that since I’m foreign I had to pay full price.
Walked across the mall to the small pharmacy. Waited 5 minutes for the antibiotics prescription. Paid maybe $5?
Bought some tea from the grocery and was better over a few days.
People from the US who travel and need healthcare know very well our system is the worst.
People from the US who travel and need healthcare know very well our system is the worst.
I mean, we don't turn to witch doctors, so I guess we're not literally the worst, but....
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People from the US who travel and need healthcare know very well our system is the worst.
I mean, we don't turn to witch doctors, so I guess we're not literally the worst, but....
I'd rather go to some nice lady who know what all herbs do what than Dr fuckin oz
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I call my Dr.
I book an appointment. If urgent but not medically urgent to my immediate wellbeing I can get in in a week or so.
If urgent, but not emergency, I can go to a clinic or the hospital non emergency (hospital can have wait times up to several hours)
If emergency and severe or traumatic injury or life threatening - emergency at hospital. Triage assesses need. Last time I had to take someone it was maybe a 20 minute wait - they had been hurt pretty bad - got jumped.
None of any of the above will cost me any money.
An ambulance, though, costs like 75$ if it is not life threatening.
Canada.
I think your definition of "urgent" might be off if you think that it can wait a week or so.
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Call the place, if it is infectious they put you on sick leave and you don't have to infect all ppl at the doctor. If the sick leave runs out, most often 3 days or so mainly to get you to the next weekend. If the issue persists you got to them. Doesn't cost anything beyond what you pay in taxes. Anything that's more involved than the typical issues might have you go to several offices (general offices then to more specialised) until someone makes a decision on what it is and how to deal with it. Also no extra cost; those come when you have something that could be dealt with but is not needed. Like you will have a decent quality of life if they patch it every now and then instead of fixing it. Then you might have to pay for that special extra pls just fix it. At least that's been my experience in Germany.
That doesn't sound great because common infections have similar symptoms. You might not know whether you have the flu or strep throat or just a cold unless you go in to take a test. If it's strep, you need an antibiotic. If it's one of those others, you don't. So do they just ignore that you might need an antibiotic for those first few days?
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
UK and Australia
I’m originally from the UK but lived in Aus for 20 years. I returned to the UK a year ago due to my Mom getting a terminal diagnosis.In the UK I’ve had two GPs this year due to moving around. First GP you’d request appointments via an online form that was available for about an hour at the start of every day and they’d send you a date and time once they’d triaged all the requests. Usually got in within a day or two. Second GP requires a call, and you can book an appointment provided it’s not a busy day, again usually 2-3 days depending on how busy they are. Both GPs were via the NHS, so no upfront cost, just a small amount taken from your pay each month.
In Aus, my GP was free at the point of delivery. It was pretty easy to get appointments and if you really wanted to see him, you could just turn up and wait until he could fit you in. Sometimes a 2 hour wait, but you could put your name down and return in 2 hours. I’m planning to change GP when I get back so will probably end up finding one where you pay an additional fee. There’s almost no doctors where you don’t pay extra any more.
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I think your definition of "urgent" might be off if you think that it can wait a week or so.
No that tracks for me, and I work in Healthcare in the US just the same. I personally had what I perceived as urgent but non-emergent and got into my doctor within a week.
I would go to urgent care (I know it's in the name but alas) if I had more pressing concerns or symptoms were bad but not life-threatening.
I would go to the ER if I was in massive pain and felt at imminent risk of death.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
I usually book an appointment. Appear on the proper day. Get my exams done, leave, no money spent. If it's like a screening for something that can be done in a public health clinic, I'll go, spend about 30 mins to one hour waiting, talk to the doc, get whatever prescriptions they give me, get discharged and go home, no money spent.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
wrote last edited by [email protected]Depends. When I broke my leg I had to wait a couple hours to get in to see a doctor, then surgery was a couple days. Even without a family doctor though if you’re just sick and need like some penicillin or stitches or something as long as you don’t go in a major city it’s like 15 minute wait times, usually no longer than an hour. Then you go in, tell em what’s wrong, they deal with it and prescribe you some drugs, then you leave and go get your drugs at the drug store. You gotta pay for the drugs unless you have benefits at your job though. Everything else is free.
Edit: am Canadian.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Canadian here. My son just had an ear infection that was lasting 3 days. On the 3rd morning we called our doctors office to have it checked. They were able to squeeze us in at noon. Took him, and they couldn't tell if it was viral or bacterial, so suggested we wait and see if it clears. Didn't clear after another 2 days, but it was the weekend now. Called 811 and they contacted a medical center to make us an appointment in the morning. Next morning (Sunday now) office called us, made an appointment and saw him again. This time we got a prescription for some antibiotics.
I've taken a course about anti-microbial resistance and I understand that doctors are instructed not to go with antibiotics first thing so it didn't really bother me to go back a second time. It was nice they it was easy to be seen again even if it wasn't with the family doctor.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
In general, I actively try not to go to the doctor. I would need to be very sick to do so. It is expensive -- even though I have insurance.
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In general, I actively try not to go to the doctor. I would need to be very sick to do so. It is expensive -- even though I have insurance.
Which country?
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
wrote last edited by [email protected]Germany: If I'm sick and want an appointment asap I just go. They tell you to call in advance but if you do they give you an appointment for another day and if you just rock up they tell you to sit down and wait for the doc. Which can take anywhere between 5 minutes and 5 hours, at least that's about the range I've experienced. Oh and not sure if that's only a thing here but it's common to awkwardly greet the other patients when you get into the waiting area.
Seeing the doc would be similar to the US I guess, except there's no need to discuss money. Doctors shake hands here, maybe that's different from you but Idk. After the appointment you check in with the front desk again to fetch any prescriptions (although those are mostly digital since last year) and notes you may need for work. That's also the time to book a follow up appointment if you need one.
Cost depends on what you got. Getting extensive bloodwork or some less "necessary" exams for example aren't covered by insurance. There's a flat 5€ fee for prescription meds and 10€ per day in a clinic. If you don't have enough money you can let the insurance company know and they'll cover some of those fees too.
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Germany: If I'm sick and want an appointment asap I just go. They tell you to call in advance but if you do they give you an appointment for another day and if you just rock up they tell you to sit down and wait for the doc. Which can take anywhere between 5 minutes and 5 hours, at least that's about the range I've experienced. Oh and not sure if that's only a thing here but it's common to awkwardly greet the other patients when you get into the waiting area.
Seeing the doc would be similar to the US I guess, except there's no need to discuss money. Doctors shake hands here, maybe that's different from you but Idk. After the appointment you check in with the front desk again to fetch any prescriptions (although those are mostly digital since last year) and notes you may need for work. That's also the time to book a follow up appointment if you need one.
Cost depends on what you got. Getting extensive bloodwork or some less "necessary" exams for example aren't covered by insurance. There's a flat 5€ fee for prescription meds and 10€ per day in a clinic. If you don't have enough money you can let the insurance company know and they'll cover some of those fees too.
There’s a flat 5€ fee for prescription meds and 10€ per day in a clinic
Jesus... As an American, we already pay $1,200 a month for the privilege of paying $50+ just to walk into the doctors office. Forget prescriptions or testing...
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Brazil.
If I'm at home and simply unwell, I can walk to the neighborhood clinic (one specific clinic based on my address) and get checked - that usually takes half an hour to a couple hours, but it may not always have a doctor available.
So most people skip the local clinic completely and go to a municipal hospital instead (something doctors often plead people not to do). These should always have a couple doctors available and they'll see anybody - even if you have no documents. When you get there a nurse will check your pulse and stuff and ask some questions to determine your priority level, then the waiting time can go up to 4 hours if it's low priority.
If you need specific exams, that will depend on how well equipped the hospital is. Many will do it right there, some will request it from other cities and that may take time, so there's the option of doing it in private clinics too.
No matter what you may end up needing, if you do it through the public health system you won't need to pay anything at all. Even experimental treatments and surgeries can get arranged. But there's always the option of going to private clinics as well. Those can have much shorter waiting times.
Based on my limited experience, this is what people seem to do for each kind of visit:
Emergencies: pretty much everybody go to public hospitals. Most places don't even have private options for this.
Basic check up: most people will use the public system first, unless it's something very specific and they are well financially.
Dental care: most people who won't be financially crippled by it will go private. People tend to stick with the same dentist once they find a good one. On the public system you never know who you might be seeing.
Eye doctor: 50/50. There are nearly as many private options for this as there are for dental care, but a lot of them suck.
Expensive exams and operations: people will try to get them for free at first, or through some Health insurance plan they may have from work. Everybody knows someone who's been waiting months for something on the public system.
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UK here. This is all "free" (i.e. paid for by a significant portion of every paycheck I ever earn via tax).
I phone my GP. They say you have I call at 0830 to get an appointment. Call back tomorrow. I ask for an advance appointment and they say they have nothing for 6+ weeks. So I call back the next day and the line is constantly busy. I get through at 0837 after mashing redial constantly. I'm told the appointments are all gone and I should call back tomorrow again. They suggest "if it's urgent then go to the A&E department"....which is clearly inappropriate for my problem. So I call back the next day. The next day I happen to get through at 0833 and they take my details. I'm told the doctor will call me back at some point later that day. Spend the day watching the phone, but can't answer it because I'm work. Duck out of something really important at work to take the call, I'm told to come to the GP later in the day. Later in the day I have work stuff I can't just leave immediately, so I ask for an appointment the next day. Get told to phone back at 0830 the next day to make an appointment.
I've figured out a way to short circuit the system. There's a national urgent medical line (111) and I have to answer the operator's questions for 20 min (am I bleeding profusely? Am I unable to breathe? Am I going to die imminently?). Finally, they're able to allocate an appointment for my own GP at a sensible time the next day.....apparently thesr guys have access to appointments with my GP which the fucking GP won't give me. Great! I go to the GP to be seen by a FY2 doctor (i.e. 15 months posts undergraduate qualification), this guy admits that he doesn't know what he's doing, that he'll speak to the GP later and phone me back with the outcome later that day. He phones me back later that day saying they don't know what to do so they're going to refer me to a hospital specialist, the hospital appointment should be sent to me in 10 months or so.
The few times I have had to go to the A&E department with my kid, I've taken chargers, entertainment devices, extra coat for my kid to use as a blanket, food (2 full packed meals), water, video game console.......I'm expecting to be there for about 6 hours if things move really quickly.
The state of national healthcare in this country. Thank you Conservatives, for 13 years of record low investment.
There's a national urgent medical line (111)
What? I've been lied to. I was told the UK line was 0118 999 881 999 119 725... 3
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There's a sizeable portion that tout hopes and prayers as a cure, and plenty of faith healers off the highways. May not be the bongo drums and carved masks you imagine, but it's witch doctors all the same.
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There's a sizeable portion that tout hopes and prayers as a cure, and plenty of faith healers off the highways. May not be the bongo drums and carved masks you imagine, but it's witch doctors all the same.
Yeah, but that's a minority of the country.
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Yeah, but that's a minority of the country.
25% or about half of the voters is technically a minority.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Germany,rural area.
I call my GP. It might take a few tries to get through. Tell the receptionist what I've got, she is more or less trying to triage me.
When it's urgent enough and I am calling early enough I can usually get there on the same day but have to wait longer at the office,if it's less serious it's mostly one or two days,but with less waiting time at the office.
To check in you hand them your insurance card.
Medication is prescribed electronically, so you just hand the card (or do it online) at the pharmacy.
The GP visit is free, medication has a small, limited copay. You get fully paid for 6 weeks of sickness per diagnosis by your employer, reduced pay for up to 2 years by the health insurance.If it's an illness requiring a specialist I can also try to book an appointment for that directly - but while that works well in larger cities it is totally impossible here, you simply won't get an appointment, not even in a year.
The same happens when your GP refers you to a specialist,but there are mechanisms to give you a more urgent appointment - which works sometimes,sometimes they don't. -
That doesn't sound great because common infections have similar symptoms. You might not know whether you have the flu or strep throat or just a cold unless you go in to take a test. If it's strep, you need an antibiotic. If it's one of those others, you don't. So do they just ignore that you might need an antibiotic for those first few days?
It's a personal choice, the doctor is now allowed to do that if you wish. Often you yourself can tell whether this is a big one or just the common flu. So it's great, because you don't have to leave the house. Specially great for city folks who would often take public transport. Keeps the stuff more contained and not spread everywhere.
