Job Discussion Forums

[7969]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

People in serious or life-threatening conditions get bumped to the front. I'll take 'the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few' any ol' day.

[choudoufu]

[7969]

[The Great Wall of Whiner]

I knew I would have to come back to re-visit this.

What was meant was that the Canadian public health care is there for all Canadians, not just the ones who can afford health care or the ones without pre-existing conditions.

This is what I meant by 'good of the many'. Of course, jumping the queue when it's serious benefits all as well, as ALL have the same opportunity should they be serious enough.

[A'Moo]

Yep, medical care is where the "wanna live like a local" train ends for even the most endeared with China folk.
Where I am, its routine that kids die for lack of sufficient funds for proper medical care-booming red giant, ready to take on the west?
What a crock.
Having grown up in Canada and the UK, natioanl health/msp isnt perfect. Physicians there, in general, have a massive God complex, finding a family doctor willing to accept patients was very difficult and, whenever you had an appointment, you could be waiting for 2 hours after the appointments time.
Where it truly shone, though, is when something was seriously wrong.

[Zero]

[thecafe]

....

[igorG]

What's Chinese health care like? My recent experiences prove it's like a "traditional pot" that cannot be supplemented for any other one. The resistance against western medicine that I have encountered around is unbelievable. I gather there are scores of local "traditional pot makers" and "counterfeit traditional pot makers" that must not be competed with. This has resulted in a load of junk on the shelves of local "drug stores" that are so poorly supervised.

So, how about our insurance? More often, it's up to our local employers and their docs. Then, we get what we are offered. If we don't like it, we may take our own individual choices that may come at a higher price tag and with delays as well.

On the end, the local health insurance companies, and hospitals are well driven by one power that won't compromise at all. The local market is local, and that's it!

[Cubism]

I teach at a medical university just outside a large city. Preparing lesson plans, I was careless. I'd been sitting at the computer for too long, and when I turned to jump up, I sprained my ankle.

I was really embarrassed but phoned one of the drs downstairs. they came over w/ the fao, who took me to the largest hospital in the city for an x-ray in case a bone was broken. the hospital was spotless. however, because we were all "foreigners" the staff moved away and let my colleagues deal with pushing the stretcher, etc. the x-ray machine was very new and modern, but they hustled us out without so much as a bandage. next am the fao left on a "business trip" for 2 wks. during that time, i asked all my dr colleagues to give me an ace bandage; no one had ever heard of an elastic bandage. the resident drs advice: rest and use heat. i had no internet, so couldn't check up on this. got a message through to my sister who sent me the normal advice for sprains (ice, elevation, range of motion exercises gradually, etc.). Then the uni fired me.

well, now, I'm more careful about everything I do, and it's been my rule over the years to go to the dentist once a year in chiang mai, thailand. get any health care done then. in the meantime, i eat very carefully, cook nearly everythng myself, exercise. i'm a big believer in keeping alive the things that matter to me (music, reading Pinter and Goethe). Hope this helps.

[sharpe88]

If you ask knowledgeable locals, you can find good hospitals with excellent doctors. If a serious ailment, try to find an expert in that field to help you.

note that the private hospitals tend to be cosmetically nicer, but the staff are not necessarily better at all

[Cubism]

And then, in ne china i went for a routine bit of bloodwork. while waiting in line with many others, suddenly a man went berserk and started slugging the (female) nurse who was standing innocently at the start of the line. Nobody lifted a finger. The fists were flying right under my nose. finally 2 other nurses dragged their colleague away. police all over the hospital, lounging..

local hospitals can also be more filthy than you can imagine. i now have a blood disease from one of them. true, my own fault, not to simply say No, no blood test here; but i wasn't as tough then as i am now.

yes, and the locals will ignore the fact that the doctor/dentist charges you more than he does the locals and schedules you for many many visits. watch your back and don't lie to yourself. also don't invest a lot of energy in "am I right? am I wrong? am I a racist?"

[mdovell]

When I was there I developed pink eye (conjunctivitis)

Needless to say I needed this fixed asap. If you haven't had it before it makes sleeping pretty bad and I didn't want to spread it to others.

I told the school and they had me to to a dispensary. A doctor examined me (with a translator) to basically look up..look down...

The pharmacy was about 40 feet away..total medicine cost was 30 cents usd.
One part was for day time and the other for night

It worked..I think I might still have one of the meds in question just incase it was the wrong stuff. I feel fine myself..

I did see a herbal medicine place that had a hospital in it..some of this stuff was just weird to say the least. Herbs weren't always ground up so it looked like it was more like a supermarket produce section.

In an area for patients that had something done there was a tv for them to watch and someone had it set to wwe wrestling?!? How is that to calm them down?

Without the translator I probably would have felt uncomfortable but having said that it was fine.