A little back story here. The summer after my freshman year of college I had a pretty invasive surgery to repair a bunion and stress fractures in my left foot. It laid me up for the entire summer, was quite painful, and for the most part successful. I was left with a pretty large scar and some weird nerve connections. The doctor put in a titanium plate and four titanium screws to fuse together the affected joint. The screws will stay in for the rest of my life unless a problem arises.
That foot has always been a little tender since then. If I stub my toe or hit the scar it certainly isn't a joyous experience. However, about two weeks after I got to Taiwan I started noticing a bump on the top of my foot. It would swell occasionally and was painful when touched. It slowly got more painful and from messing around with it I realized that I could feel the head of one of the screws.
I began to worry that something had shifted and that the screw was starting to back out of the bones and wasn't sure what to do. In mentioning this to our neighbors, the Johnsons, they explained to me how the medical system works here.
If you are a permanent resident, citizen, or have an Alien Resident Card (ARC) you are entitled to the socialized healthcare which cuts most doctor bills in half. I don't have healthcare so I was worried about going to the doctor, thinking it would be outrageously expensive. I was also worried that I wouldn't be able to find a doctor that I could effectively communicate with.
As the beginning of my teaching was coming closer I started to worry more and I decided that I needed to do something. It was starting to affect the way that I walked.
I asked the Johnsons to help me and they stepped right up. They knew an orthopedic doctor about 10 minutes away that they had seen multiple times before. Added bonus: he spoke English! I learned afterwards that all medical students in Taiwan are required to speak English - just depends on how well they do.
The office hours were something like 9am-12pm, 3-6pm and 7-9pm. Which seems logical. They take time off for lunch and dinner and get to spend time with their families. They have a few hours to run errands, go to the bank, do all of those things that are hard to fit in at weird times. It also gives patients who work full time jobs the ability to visit the doctor without missing work. Why don't we do this in the states? If you get sick outside of normal business hours then well... too bad for you!
Anywho. The Johnsons were willing to take me to the doctor themselves. Mrs. Johnson was an RN back in the States and in the last 28 years in Taiwan she has picked up a pretty good understanding of the language.
I had to fill out some paper work but because I'm not Taiwanese and I don't have an ARC I didn't have much to write down. Heck I don't even have a real address. Approximately two minutes later I was in talking to the doctor. He spoke perfect English! I explained the situation and he pushed and poked around my foot for a while, asked a few questions, prodded a little more, made me squirm a little and then proudly announced I needed some x rays. My American healthcare system experience has trained me such that immediately red flags with dollar signs went off in my head. Shoot, I thought, this is going to be expensive! I was also worried about it taking a long time. I didn't want to make the Johnsons stay any longer than necessary. I envisioned waiting for hours.
Less than a minute later I was in with the doctor taking x-rays. Next I had to wait a whopping 4 minutes for the x-rays to be developed. Shortly there after I was in the doctor's office again going over the x-ray.
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| This is what we call hardware. |
The results were that everything actually looks really good. He said the person who put the plate in did a really good job. The bones have fused together nicely and nothing seems to be out of place. What I am experiencing is some arthritis due to the extra stress being put on other joints in my foot since that one is immobilized. As soon as he said that I remembered that my surgeon told me that probably would happen. I just didn't think it would happen so soon.
He commanded that I rest for two weeks. No jumping, no running, no dancing, just nice easy relaxation.
I was in and out of the office within 20 minutes. But now comes the best part. The entire visit, including my x-rays (burned to a CD for me so I could send them back to the States) cost me 500 NT. That is USD$16.64. Yes. That is less than my copay with health insurance back in the States. I didn't make an appointment. I didn't deal with any nurses. I just talked to the doctor like a normal human being. I had a problem, he addressed it, and I left. It seems so simple. Why is it so hard?
The Johnsons told me that if I had done the same thing with the healthcare here it would have probably cost me about 200 NT (USD$6). The downsides they have identified is that the doctors tend to be very cautious and can over diagnose and hyper prescribe. As a part of national law they can only distribute three days worth of medicine at a time, which you pick up directly from any doctor. They tend to prescribe more medicines (even ones you can pick up at any grocery store) because it is a way to make a little money. However, the biggest difference they talked about was that for the Taiwanese the idea of being a doctor isn't about being rich. It is accepted as upper middle class position so the doctors are not seen as money grabbing. People trust them more, people see them more, and the system works.
I, in no means, want to start a political discussion about socialized health care or health care back in the States. I simply wanted to share my experience with you guys, especially since it was so positive.
In the two weeks since I have tried my best to rest but I've begun to get stir crazy. The rest period has ended. I went to a boxing class and a jiu jitsu class tonight. I highly doubt the doctor would consider that rest. Ah well. I will tell you about my experience at class a different time!
Make sure to rest!
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