Living Life in Latin America: The Dreaded Clinic Visit

I just have to illustrate what it's like to go to the doctor here…again. Without giving you too much information, last week I thought I might have a bladder infection and so wanting to avoid the clinic as much as possible, I self diagnosed myself and started taking antibiotics (that I had been saving incase of another sinus infection). When my symptoms were still present a couple days later, I decided I should probably see a real doctor. So I asked the secretary at school to schedule me an appointment as soon as possible with a general physician because it's near impossible for me to do with my limited Spanish. She got back with me telling me she couldn't get an appointment until nine days later… and recommended that I talk to the school nurse… That was unacceptable for me. So I had to request that she try another doctor or another clinic so that I could be seen earlier. She came through and got me an appointment for two days later, but forgot to ask if the doctor spoke English… (Luckily he did).

The main reason I want to avoid the clinic is because it is not unusual for one appointment to take 4-5 hours of waiting, as has happened to me the past three times (and I don't want to be sick). My appointment this time was scheduled from 3:00-5:30pm because in Venezuela you don't get a scheduled appointment time, you get a block where you put your name on a waiting list and it's first come first served. I think this is a cultural thing because Venezuelans are never on time but I find it extremely annoying and very inefficient. Anyway, I was hopeful this time because I figured the office must close around 6pm so the most I would be waiting was two and a half hours, not too bad! I took my book and I was mentally prepared.

I was second on the list and I only waited an hour and a half! I was so impressed. The doctor was really nice and wanted to do a thorough job so even though I did not have to wait long, I was at the clinic until 7:30 pm. And in the end he said I should just finish out the week taking antibiotics. After that I went to the pharmacy to get an over the counter med he recommended but they didn't have any. I felt so bad when they didn't have any medications the old man next to me needed. There were about six on his list and they said, "No hay" to every single one :(

Another issue I have with going to the clinic is the insurance claim following your appointment is also a pain. Before you can get refunded for any money you spent, you have to go back to the lab and pick up your results (which involves waiting of course) and then get another appointment with your doctor so he can fill out the paper work stating the results (which involves significantly more waiting). I'm debating if it is worth it this time for me to file a claim. They probably won't even have it processed before summer anyway.

In the end, I am glad I went to confirm that I did not have anything seriously wrong with me, but I do hope to avoid the clinic for the next 25 days that I am here. The trip was not a complete fail either because I got the following pictures that are a bit amusing: