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How would you rate your healthcare locally?


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To me , it is a mistake to take high school graduates directly into medical school.  It takes a certain maturity that an 18-20 year old lacks to be able to handle face-to-face patients with understanding and compassion.  They need more maturity that a college education and age will hopefully give them.

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Bad or good medical care?  Last year  I saw orthopedic surgeons who recommended expensive, long time in hospital and months of therapy solution for my back problem.  Not one of them recommended vertebroplasty to repair ruptured disks, done in a one day top level hospital stay at minimal cost by a neurosurgeon recommended by an acquaintance.  I walked the next day.  No additional therapy needed.  Motivation involved on part of first docs?  $$$ maybe?  No question.  Fortunately, most of the doctors I've dealt with are not like that.  As I suggested previously, get all the information you can before committing to any doctor's solution to your problems.

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slaintes ,many of the top students or maybe all of them end up inthe IMSS or Seguro Popular doing their internship but as another poster they do not have the experience yet  and if you only go to IMSS or Seguro Popular you can end up with a student.. maybe a great student but stil someone who does not have the benefit of years of experience.  do agree that the UNAM and  U de G are great schools but again like everywhere else some will come out great doctors and some not that great but that is true all over the world.

We have some great doctors in France and I have never heard any of them criticize UNAM or U de G .. They actually recommended the ophtamologist  coming out of Guadaljara for exemple.. It is like everywhere else, do your homework if you have a serious condition.

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I think your age factor must also be taken into consideration and your ability to obtain private insurance,when your in your "golden" years like over 80 yrs old.

I would recommend that you have an bilingual aide at all time

For my experience with IMSS and or SP.It is similar to receiving care for indigent persons.

If you qualify for private insurance and care,I have had a very positive experience.

But please remember cost can mean different things/affordability for different people. It's not that long ago there were GOFUNDME for people having $5,000usd/ $40,000usd expenses.

One of the reason a Lakeside person is returning to NOB where health care is covered, is that the person had hip surgery which cost 85,000 pesos and wiped out her savings

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IMSS is really for working people not for indigents but the quality can vary greatly depending on the state.. It is going to be merge with Seguro Popular where some of the indigents go so future will tell . Do not get the idea that everything is free at Seguro popular.. I was there with indgenous friends and they had to pay for ambulences, x.rays and other things and some medecine the hospital did not have. f you are indigent , you are out of luck , pass the hat or die.. I saw that too while I was there..That was in Chiapas where the majority of the people in the Seguro Popular s indigenous ,I do not know about JAlisco

 

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19 hours ago, blankletmusic said:

Great to hear. Am totally disgusted by "healthcare" in the US. I need prompt, affordable healthcare services (mostly physical therapy, therapeutic massage, etc.). Unfortunately, we have all but two of those ( prompt and affordable care, that is). I'm in the gigantic bureaucracy of VA healthcare here. What a giant mess that is.

Frank Zappa said it best- "The torture never stops".

 

I am seeing an Orthopedist this week who is a graduate of UNAM and her specialty at U de G. Competition to get into UNAM is very tough because they get free tuition. Mexico City (UDMX) is also home to some of the highest rated medical facilities in the world. She charges 500 pesos for a consultation, then an apparently very capable physiotherapist charges 300 pesos per visit. Affordable, no?

As far as hospitals, I only have had experience with a General Hospital which accepts free, if over 60, SP insurance. The experience was much like care I have received in Canada and the U.K., all public wards. You will not find yourself in care of interns, they travel in flocks, in the company of a senior doctor, asking and answering questions. Most of the new interns, and many of the trainee nurses speak English, and they often will come back on their own, to practise their English. They work brutal hours, one intern told me he worked 130 hours per week. Then they have to work an additional year, usually in some tiny corner of Mexico, if the new President of Mexico has his way. If they want to take a specialty, that is another two years.

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Chillin', that is not the new president's way. I believe that it has always been that way with any University in Mexico that offers free tuition for Doctors. That posting in the boonies is the students' way of paying back and saw it first hand in small villages outside of San Miguel de Allende in '97.

I wish that ALL Universities in both the U.S. and Canada had that option for a couple of reasons. 1) It would ensure that any student with the qualifications to apply would be accepted without having to worry about student debt and 2) rural areas would have the option of having Doctors within a reasonable distance. That's a win/win imho.

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 can tell you that in remote areas the interns are not travelling with a professor and often they are the doctors.. I took a woman who was in horrible pain the local se popular on a sunday.. She was fainting and was white as a sheet. The very young doctor told her.."in the scale of 10 what is the dolor" she said 10 , 3 times , he told her " you are lying so I cannot help you .. Go and see a specialist tomorrow in San Cristobal.. She went to a curandero ... then the day after that we took her to San Cristobal and they removed her gall bladder., the followng day she was discharged and back we went... that is medecine down there..

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As way of background, I have experienced US Army medical care (very inconsistent, from amazing to wretched), Kaiser Permanente HMO (consistently good and inexpensive), and now private care here in Mexico.

In general, I find the care here in Mexico more friendly and personable. I also find the expertise (lakeside) to be even more variable than the Army was! All the doctors I have met/associated with here were caring, friendly people. Some were extremely qualified, and others turned out to be quacks. I ran into plenty of unfriendly doctors NOB, but very few quacks.

You need to spend some time when settling in to ask friends for recommendations, but then meet some doctors and ask some hard questions. If you have pre-existing conditions, don't tell them (first) what your current course of treatment is: ask what they suggest. You might learn of an alternative approach, or you might get a clue you've run into a friendly quack.

Medical costs here are (generally) less than the States. The doctors I have used are less likely to prescribe extensive testing to protect themselves from malpractice tort, since that is not much of a thing here. But I have met some who routinely (and unnecessarily) refer to specialists as a means to build income.

Medical care is one of those areas expats really need to take charge and do due diligence, or you can get a very bad outcome!

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On 11/12/2019 at 7:13 PM, Rony said:

I agree. And " Nice and caring "  is not my first criterium, when choosing a doctor.  On WHO list, Mexico ranks 65 or so ( in healthcare quality ).

Yes.  You can have good experiences...but a bit of common sense here: in a country with one of the worst education systems, how can you expect to have a majority of excellent doctors and nurses ??

Over 21 years here....I dont think of a few personal good experiences ( which I dont deny ! ) but numerous times, where I translated at IMSS and hospital civil ( and I worked with dozens of caregivers ). Many horror stories ( and yes, a few good ones ).  Unfortunately, I have known too many people here, who today, should still be alive.

Let us not even mention lack of consistency and corruption.

One probably also should make a distinction between the more expensive health care facilities for the few, versus the inexpensive ones for the poor majority.  Therefore,...my personal opinion...  for a majority of people here it is NOT good.  I have many good reasons for living here, but healthcare is not one of them ( and I dont feel the need to compare to the US system )

Not what you want to hear, I know... ( bring on the bullets .... but do a good and fast job....the Red Cross is NOT where I want to die ...I am being nice here ).  

It is a lottery, where luck and money will give you the winning ticket.   A smile could help too

 

Rony

 

Well at least you explained yourself; better than Cedros.  I guess it may depend on whether you have money or not.  So far I have been paying as I go and it has worked well.  If I have to rely on Seguro Popular then I might change my mind.  Time will tell.

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I think you need to think of the situation where you will need some expensive treatments that you cannot afford.. The ones you can afford are not the problem. As far as Seguro Pplar I have seen many instances wher they do not have the money for the treatments and you can pay or die.. t is highly bureaucratic you can wait hours , days weeks months for doctors  and surgeries.. If you canot afford anything else , it is not great... I side with Rony any day . He speaks fluent Spanish and has been here long enough to know how it work or does not...

We had Kayser and other insurrne in the north

 

I delivered a baby at home by myself with the help of my husband. because the doctor could not be bothered to hear what I had to stay.. The baby dies

I came down with a case od mange after spending time on a ship in the Mediterranean.. the doctors at Kayser put me through all kinds of treatments with cortisoneand I do not know what else .. My vet figured it out..

I bled for a year before the Kaiser´s doctors told me what they were trying to do and I figured out what I should be doing.

When I turned 45 I developped a chronic cough, only the doctors in Mexico figured it was due to reflux.. 10 years later...

So I cannot complain about Mexco.. Yes there are lots of quacks and insurrance cheats and you have to do your home work but all in all the doctors here are at least as good.

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I don't have a dog in this hunt, but....   I'm wondering if the 'care' one gets at SP could be vastly different depending on what part of the country, what state and maybe even what town that one resides. I've only heard pretty good things about the Joco SP facility.

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I've had 2 surgeries here in Guad. Private, top-notch hospitals that look just like the US facilities.  Surgeons who trained in the US. Both with excellent results. Doctors' services were impeccable and fees were reasonable, as were lab tests, etc. Where you have to watch out is the hospital itself--some charge much, MUCH higher room and operating theatre rates than others, US prices?  Learned this on my own experience and speaking to others. I was told to have on hand the names of a couple of decent, fully equipped upper-end hospitals but not the top luxe one or two. And find the best doctors. Ask around.

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I responded privately to blanketmusic.  Yet, my conscience was bothering me.  I should have responded here, despite the potential for negative response.  People deserve to know this, in addition to the many wonderful references of healthcare  in this area.
 
We are educated, retired, and have never spared anything for our medical care/preventive review.  We have gone to the more highly recommended physicians in this Chapala area, and done all tests without hesitation.
 
OUR STORY:
 
FIRST MEDICAL REFERENCE: We went to the US a highly recommended expensive specialist in Guad by many on the message board.  This specialist asked if there was medical insurance and then informed us, that emergency surgery was required.The doctor in the US said, any gastroenterologist would know that this is not the case, just by looking at the disk Mexico's Gastroenterologist provided.   We would not find that out until we went to the US, found work to reinstate US healthcare, and be reviewed by a top doctor in the US.  We are older, so this was not an easy task.  
 
SECOND MEDICAL REFERENCE: Due to the above outcome, and having coverage, the second person in this marriage decided to go for a second round of all tests, even though he had done so already in Mexico. In Mexico, the Lake Chapala Docs had delivered a clean bill of health. The Johns Hopkins team, found prostate cancer and rated it as aggressive.  We appear fortunate, for surgery and review after, resulted in a VERY surprised surgeon at Johns Hopkins stating how lucky we were, and it appears we have gotten it all.  The surgeon at Johns Hopkins said had we not gotten treatment, it would have turned out very differently, and one of us would have been left to prematurely grieve the other.
 
We love this area, returned after our medical was complete in the states, and acknowledge that there are many doctors here whom are wonderful. In the second reference above, diagnostics were better in the US for us. In the first reference:, we are grateful for that false diagnosis, or we NEVER would have received treatment for the second medical reference above.
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Agree 100% with Rony ! We are Not in Mexico because of the health care services and anything the least bit serious, we travel North just as fast as we can ! Seen too many die here that should still be alive, and with God's help, we are not 2 of those. 21 years of living in Mexico 6 months a year.

 

 

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1 hour ago, Jim Bowie said:

Agree 100% with Rony ! We are Not in Mexico because of the health care services and anything the least bit serious, we travel North just as fast as we can ! Seen too many die here that should still be alive, and with God's help, we are not 2 of those. 21 years of living in Mexico 6 months a year.

 

 

Speak for yourself. There are many excellent doctors here and some not so just like your alleged better "North". I for one am not interested in what you would do about "serious" medical and I'm pretty sure there are others but I won't speak for them. Last time I looked people die everywhere. I lost 2 family members and 3 longtime friends in Canada this year plus 3 dogs

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I am sorry about your losses. If I remember right, you are from the "Lower Mainland" where I know that like everywhere, there are very good Doctors along with some who are not as good.

I would feel much better having health emergencies up north only because, up there, I know who is good and where to go. I bet that were I to better understand the health system down here that I would feel better and not be nervous about having a medical emergency down here.

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8 hours ago, happyjillin said:

Speak for yourself. There are many excellent doctors here and some not so just like your alleged better "North". I for one am not interested in what you would do about "serious" medical and I'm pretty sure there are others but I won't speak for them. Last time I looked people die everywhere. I lost 2 family members and 3 longtime friends in Canada this year plus 3 dogs

I am speaking for myself. That was an asinine response. Who else? No one cares whether you are interested in my experiences and what we do about health care, as I am replying to the OP and not you. So, piss off ! 

 

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5 hours ago, Jim Bowie said:

I am speaking for myself. That was an asinine response. Who else? No one cares whether you are interested in my experiences and what we do about health care, as I am replying to the OP and not you. So, piss off ! 

 

Do you always get this "excited" when someone disagrees with you ?  LOL

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