Job Discussion Forums

[mgafunnell]

What should I expect these doctors do when they give me an examination?


MOD EDIT

[tw]

- Blood test, including drawing blood and checking blood pressure
- Chest X-ray
- Electrocardiogram
- Eyesight test which you can fill in yourself or tell the doctor
- In some places, Dalian for example, the male doctor may physically examine your genitals

All can be done within 30 minutes.

[mjlpsu]

Last examination I had I took notice of the forms and departments. "Internal Medicine" was blood pressure and "Surgery" was height and weight.

[HunanForeignGuy]

[tw]

[lostinasia]

Actually you did not have a CT Scan (commonly called CAT) ...

In reality, you had an ultrasound - pregnant people out there would call it a sonogram

[just another laowai]

Your poll is biased and missing an option

[boubou]

Your missing the "worst" option here. They almost killed me on an allergic reaction. I was suffocating and instead of giving me an anti-allergine, he kept telling me: Don't pannick..... If it wasn't for a foreigner and a translator on place, I would have probably died... Even took my buddy to tell the nurse to get a doctor.... AFTER I sent him a text message to get back in the room because the nurse was just staring at me not being able to breath.... Don't we all love Chinese hospitals?

[james s]

They do not change gloves when taking blood and they curse you for making them wash their hands.

You missed an option. Worse and dirty. Regrets to poster.

[Brian Caulfield]

drugs are good here and all the drug companies are here purchasing them . Doctors generally don't have any English abilities so the nurse usually has better English . The nurse can practice nursing in other countries if they pass the ENglish test. The doctors can't leave ,except if they want to do research.

[lostinasia]

Obviously you know nothing about the medical education system here - including who can study outside China. Doctors are completely free to go overseas - unfortunately Chinese medical education doesn't truly prepare them to pass the necessary qualifying examinations to go abroad. I teach medicine here so I can say you are quite wrong.

Chinese doctors do, in general, speak English. However, doctors are more likely to believe they have no responsibility to speak English. It is "below them" to do so in many cases. This is mostly for the older doctors (above the age of 45 or so). Younger doctors, residents (post-graduate training), and graduates of the past 15 years all speak English - the undergraduate medical training includes standard Oral/Reading/Writing/Listening type classes and they mirror many of their standard Chinese medical courses in English as well and are tested on such. The reality however is that doctors have nearly no opportunity or need to speak English in China as part of their jobs.

As for medications (drugs)... if you need a standard western medication you should be sure to buy a brand name - yes, much more expensive. You can find actual imported med's but nearly all western medications purchased in China are manufactured in China - which actually has different manufacturing processes and materials - in such things as binder that hold pills together and so on - WHICH DO AFFECT efficacy in some cases.

If you buy a generic western medication (not a western brand - company) it is most likely manufactured by a Chinese company having much different standards.

You are best to stick with western brand/company medications.

[Mister Al]

Yeah, what happenned to other options in the poll?
How about
c) worse
d) much worse
e) How can you compare chalk and bloody cheese?

[Brian Caulfield]

Lost in Asia I also taught Chinese doctors in Canada . I also have taught many doctors in Korea and Taiwan . The test they take in Canada and other countries is too difficult for them to pass . The tests are designed to protect the interest of doctors in these countries . Can you tell me where in China I can see doctors with English skills . When I see a doctor here I bring four dictionaries with me and write out all my symptoms in Chinese before going . The treatments I have reicieved here have all been good and sometimes I am embarassed because they make me jump the que ahead of sicker people . The possitive here is the cost is so low .

[lostinasia]

Well, your best luck is clearly in larger cities, with international "sounding" names (the hospital, not the city name), and medical university affiliations. That means nothing really. The key is to ask for a non-resident physician who is under 32 years of age - sort of demand it. Unfortunately that doesn't help much if the department/specialty you want doesn't have someone fitting that bill.

Also, department chiefs usually have a basic knowledge of English to communicate on a "fair" level - as they are required to conduct some amount of research and publication and have a certain level of western affiliation - to western hospitals, associations, etc.).

Another option, depending on where you live is to try to find a Korean doctor, as their English skills usually outweigh that of their Chinese counterparts in China.

And, of course, living in a truly small city, well then you're probably out of luck with such things.

One of the best bets though is to go to a med school affiliated hospital and before you get face-to-face time with the doctor is to have the department you're going to be seen in call one of the doctors med students who is doing their clinical rotation - the students DO speak English and can do translation - granted, they many not want to speak English, BUT THEY ARE capable.

It's not that it's EASY to find someone you can communicate with, but it's quite possible.

As for things like medications and so forth - hospitals are required to have pharmaceutical books/formularies and diagnosis manuals in English on hand - so you can at least see what medicine you are getting for some illness you can see the name of.

[adamsmith]

Hate to tell you Lost, but I just spent over a month in the hosptal in Chengdu. If it was not for a friend, who happens to be a doctor and teaches overseas, to do my translating for me I would have been lost. Most of the doctors I met and that were treating me could not speak english at all. And most of these docs were young and some of them were in their residency.
This is after it took many phone calls to even find a hospital that would take me - most of the hospitals did not even want a foreigner there because of the problems they would have if anything went wrong. They just used the excuse that there are no beds available.
On the other hand though the care was good and the docs were caring. Cleanliness is another story though - scary.