Non-Americans, what's it like when you're sick and need to go to the doctor?
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Give them a call. Generally get an appointment within 2 days.
Get told to take paracetamol for 2 weeks and make another appointment if the problem persists.Drs are generally on time maybe 10 min behind but when I was in Australia they would regularly get up to an hour late.
Costs are generally subsidied by the national government so unless something comes up unexpectedly there is no cost. If something does then you pay a fee and your private health takes care of the rest.
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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 on who you're seeing, what time, etc. for a GP you're waiting as long as the ones in front of you take. I actually don't mind that so much, in my case it's because my regular gp hates metrics and doesn't give a fat shit what the clinic wants. He takes as long as is needed with each patient (and bills them all as standard consults) Unfortunately he also sees a lot of little old ladies, so sometimes it blows out.
Recently found out we were inadvertently exposed to a shitton of lead dust. Monday we decided to get tested, yesterday (Tuesday) morning i got the consult, gp wrote me up the paperwork, I scooted the while four meters to the phlebotomist, they took blood and urine, should hear back today /tomorrow, already received my medicare refund. Same with hubs, although he tacked on getting his flu/rsv and latest covid vaccinations done at the same time. Australia here for the record.
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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]Italy
If it is a routine visit, one week. If you are sick a prescription is done via phone, you will find your needed medications already in the pharmacy or it will be coming in 3 days max. Your health records, allergies and needs are already in the doctor's database and your prescription will account for that.
Practices done in public infrastructure is free, and most presciption medications are too,
But we do have a very serious wait time problem with specialist visits. In the worst cases it can take more than a year if you need special visitations. There just aren't enough medics specialized to fill those positions, and who is available prefers less stressful and overworked positions.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Canada... Depends what kind of visit really. I captain a few rec teams, so breaks or dislocations, we'll go to emergency, get triaged and wait for a bit.
If it's somwthing I'd like to get checked out but not urgent, I'll schedule an appointment with my family dr, might take a week or 2?
For something sooner, I'll go to one of the several walk in clinics nearby. Wait time really varies but generally pretty quick as long as I get there a little early.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Depends on what I'm going to the Dr for. If it's a physical injury that's bearable but not going away I can get an opinion from a pharmacist first then go to a Dr if they recommend, if it's something like a chest infection or other illness I can call a non emergencies line to get a Dr's opinion and they might ask me to come in for a physical checkup. If it's something more urgent than that then I guess just turn up at A&E and probably spend a few hours waiting in triage till there's a Dr who can see me.
The NHS is really struggling so I try to avoid going to the Dr for minor stuff but most of the time when I've deemed it big enough to need to see a Dr it's been pretty smooth for me. Only time I've had problems was when I injured my knee and couldn't walk properly then got bounced around for months after my x-ray showed that I hadn't fractured it, I was supposed to get a scan to check if it was muscle damage and when I turned up for said scan they just had a physio therapist tell me I need to walk on it more to exercise the muscles in my kneecap after the swelling from the initial damage weakened them.
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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]If it's urgent, I go down there. If not, I schedule an appointment (how soon usually depends on the severity. Can be the next day, or the next week).
Example: My oldest kid (12 years old at the time) fractured his arm while in school last spring. I was notified right away, so I picked him up at school and took him to the local clinic (3 minutes away) . The doctor wanted some xrays done, so he referred him to the local hospital and gave him some painkillers for the one hour trip (we live kind of in the middle of nowhere).
We arrived at the ICU (it was after "office hours"), so we had to wait 30 minutes for the x-ray tech to be available. Turned out a titanium rod insert was needed, which requires anesthesia, so they couldn't do it the same day because of fasting requirements. Operation "scheduled" for the next day. He was given a temporary cast.
Day arrived, and while there was a bit of wait since it was something they'd just have to insert into the schedule for the day whenever possible. Surgery went according to plan, and he was given a sandwich upon waking up, as he hadn't eaten since the day before. He had a new cast on that he had to keep for a couple of weeks. The local clinic could remove it, but they wanted to do it at the hospital so they could do a follow up xray to see that it was healing properly.
A few weeks later, and things looked good. Cast removed.
A couple of months ago he had the titanium rod removed without much ado.
My only expense was the fuel cost for driving to the hospital.
The only negative feedback I have is that my son didn't get to keep the titanium rod as a souvenir after they removed it. I guess the doctors have better things to do than washing gore off of scrap metal.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
One of the few things I liked about Russia is the healthcare system.
If you have money, and I don't mean like you're in the top 1% or 10%, you just have an average salary, you can get any doctor any procedure within 2 days. Neck MRI is $120; ultrasound is about $30; regular appointment is also $20-30; PET $400.
When it comes to the free healthcare tier, it's kinda tricky. In an emergency you could be delivered either in a new medical center with boxes and wifi, or they could throw you in an old hospital where various infections were living for centuries and doctors just hate this place and everyone who's around.
Haven't been there for almost 5 years, if we exclude a short two month period where I haven't interacted with the healthcare system. I heard that due to sanctions there's a lack of basic medicine right now: antibiotics, infusions, and even paracetamol.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
Slovakia
Notify my employer that I won't show up, go to doctor and wait in the waiting room. When the nurse shows up, give her the insurance card and wait for your turn. They'll check you, and if it's nothing special (requiring a specialist), you'll probably get prescription for some meds to pick up.
Then you get those in a pharmacy. Either it's electronic, or if the system is once again broken, you hand them the Rx paper that the Dr. gives you in that case. And then you figure out what you're about to pay. A lot of things will be fully covered by insurance, but potentially you'll have to copay. There's also a chance the Dr. tells you to get something that isn't covered, like some specific eyedrops, cough meds, probiotics (if you have antibiotics for example), etc.The pharmacist may recommend a cheaper alternative, will likely tell you recommended dosage, tell you that once again this specific Dr. prescribed something that hasn't been manufactured for the past 30 years, and in the rare case, tell you the prescription seems dangerous and to contact the Dr.
And also decrypt any handwriting/encoding. -
Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
From south Brazil.
For something not urgent I can usually get a private GP within a week or a specialist within a month.
For something a bit more urgent, usually 1-2 hours in a private hospital, or 2-6 hours in a public one.
When going private the health insurance has always covered everything, so no cost.
Never had an emergency so I can't say how it is. -
Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
wrote last edited by [email protected]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.
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Give them a call. Generally get an appointment within 2 days.
Get told to take paracetamol for 2 weeks and make another appointment if the problem persists.Drs are generally on time maybe 10 min behind but when I was in Australia they would regularly get up to an hour late.
Costs are generally subsidied by the national government so unless something comes up unexpectedly there is no cost. If something does then you pay a fee and your private health takes care of the rest.
I can't tell if your not originally from the states or you just translated that for the foreigner.
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Give them a call. Generally get an appointment within 2 days.
Get told to take paracetamol for 2 weeks and make another appointment if the problem persists.Drs are generally on time maybe 10 min behind but when I was in Australia they would regularly get up to an hour late.
Costs are generally subsidied by the national government so unless something comes up unexpectedly there is no cost. If something does then you pay a fee and your private health takes care of the rest.
Why do you have private healthcare?
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
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.
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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.
I have health insurance in the US and still have to pay a fuckton in copays to use it.
In early May, I searched GPs on my Healthcare plan, and I get to see a doctor on Jully 11.
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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]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.
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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]I go there, try to explain what I have (I don't speak Korean and the doctor is not very good in English). Then the might give me a shot and let me inhale some stuff. Then I pay some mony (don't remember exactly how much, but not so much) and they give me a prescription and I go away. Most of the time it takes about 10 minutes.
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Which country are you in and what's a typical doctor visit like? How much? Wait time? Etc
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 Iβm foreign I had to pay full price.
Walked across the mall to the small pharmacy. Waited 5 minutes for the antibiotics prescription. Paid maybe $5?
Bought some tea from the grocery and was better over a few days.
People from the US who travel and need healthcare know very well our system is the worst.
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I call my Dr.
I book an appointment. If urgent but not medically urgent to my immediate wellbeing I can get in in a week or so.
If urgent, but not emergency, I can go to a clinic or the hospital non emergency (hospital can have wait times up to several hours)
If emergency and severe or traumatic injury or life threatening - emergency at hospital. Triage assesses need. Last time I had to take someone it was maybe a 20 minute wait - they had been hurt pretty bad - got jumped.
None of any of the above will cost me any money.
An ambulance, though, costs like 75$ if it is not life threatening.
Canada.
The hospitals usually have a severity for triage. If you broke your arm your going to be waiting longer than someone with a sever allergic reaction. Which makes sense, some injuries can wait longer than others.
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The hospitals usually have a severity for triage. If you broke your arm your going to be waiting longer than someone with a sever allergic reaction. Which makes sense, some injuries can wait longer than others.
That part is normal in US emergency rooms as well.
