In the USA, at least in my experience. If I have a cold I still had to make an appointment which would be 2 to 3 days later. I got around this by joining a doctor in a clinic and they'd let me see any doctor if my doctor wasn't avaiable but i'd have to sit in the waiting room for 1 - 2 hrs.
In Japan I have had mixed experiences:
Good:
* It's relatively cheap. Apprently the government sets prices. The government offers medical insurence. It costs based on previous year's income. i've paid as little as $15 a month and as high as $300. I don't know the range. It only covers 70%. My employeers have provided insurance that covered more.
* Fast. There are no appointments or a least I've never made one. Just walk in, usually no more than a 20 minute wait. Did have one long wait 1998.
* Some pretty good tech. Had back problems once. Got an MRI immediately (Japan has/had ?x more MRI machines than USA). Last week had an unusual pain in neck, went in, got immediate endoscope pictures inside neck.
Note that in Japan, unlike the USA, hospitals are a place you can just walk in for a cold. (you can also go to small clinics and private doctors). The advantage of going to a hospital is they have more specialists and equipmnent. The disadvantage is sometimes longer waits and probably not as close. I only bring that up as a contrast to USA where a hospital is someplace you don't go unless it's an emergency or surgery or something else really serious.
Bad:
* Bar to be a doctor much lower. Have had several very quack doctor expeiences in Japan. Have not yet had a quack doctor experience in USA
* Unclean. Have been to several facilities that seemed unclean to me. Machines that looked like people had coughed on them for years and had never been cleaned. Not all places but enough the experience has stuck out. No idea what that's about but just surprised since my experience in the USA was that medical services are or at least appear spotless.
Unknown:
* Nurses require no training (or so I was told by a nurse). You just go apply for job like a fast food job. Is that better (lower cost) or worse (less training).
> Unclean. Have been to several facilities that seemed unclean to me.
The thing I like about it is that you can just leave the unclean facilities behind and find a new doctor, and it will cost you exactly the same as the old one.
Replace ‘Japan’ with ‘metro cities in India’ and its almost the same. I can’t still fathom why there would be no walk in facilities for ailments like cold.
I still remember my shock when in US I realised from a colleague that for my cold I need to wait because I can’t walk in and need to take an appointment.
I noticed recently in the USA places like Walgreens you can see a doctor for colds. That seems like a great idea to me. I guess that's similar in Thailand and maybe Malaysia.
I don't get this either. If I have a cold, I just take acetaminophen a couple times a day to suppress the symptoms until it goes away. Sure, if you're elderly or have an autoimmune deficiency, you may want to see a doc for everything, but that's not that common.
(Amusingly, I was in London a few years ago and came down with a cold. One of my local colleagues told me about this amazing thing called paracetamol that was just magic and would make me feel better. I was astounded that we didn't have it back home in the US... until I looked it up and realized it's just acetaminophen under a different name.)
YES?! What the hell? Especially considering, the kind of sinus clearing pills which are forbidden (classed as a narcotic) in Sweden, they handed out in jars like candy at the US office.
There's no reason to visit a doctor for the common cold. Stay home and get some rest.. Do you take your car to the dealer or local mechanic to put air and washer fluid in your car?
>There's no reason to visit a doctor for the common cold.
That's such an american thing to say. A flu can be swine flu and fever can be Malaria or Dangue and one day delay can mean losing your life, so people in many parts of the world take fever and flu seriously.
In Japan I have had mixed experiences:
Good:
* It's relatively cheap. Apprently the government sets prices. The government offers medical insurence. It costs based on previous year's income. i've paid as little as $15 a month and as high as $300. I don't know the range. It only covers 70%. My employeers have provided insurance that covered more.
* Fast. There are no appointments or a least I've never made one. Just walk in, usually no more than a 20 minute wait. Did have one long wait 1998.
* Some pretty good tech. Had back problems once. Got an MRI immediately (Japan has/had ?x more MRI machines than USA). Last week had an unusual pain in neck, went in, got immediate endoscope pictures inside neck.
Note that in Japan, unlike the USA, hospitals are a place you can just walk in for a cold. (you can also go to small clinics and private doctors). The advantage of going to a hospital is they have more specialists and equipmnent. The disadvantage is sometimes longer waits and probably not as close. I only bring that up as a contrast to USA where a hospital is someplace you don't go unless it's an emergency or surgery or something else really serious.
Bad:
* Bar to be a doctor much lower. Have had several very quack doctor expeiences in Japan. Have not yet had a quack doctor experience in USA
* Unclean. Have been to several facilities that seemed unclean to me. Machines that looked like people had coughed on them for years and had never been cleaned. Not all places but enough the experience has stuck out. No idea what that's about but just surprised since my experience in the USA was that medical services are or at least appear spotless.
Unknown:
* Nurses require no training (or so I was told by a nurse). You just go apply for job like a fast food job. Is that better (lower cost) or worse (less training).