Russian Doctors and Russian Healthcare

I guess that I still have thinking’s to do about healthcare in Russia. I definitely support the healthcare here and will tell anyone that it is cheap, efficient and effective. I realize that some Russians are disgusted with the healthcare in Russia and all I can say to them is, “I felt the same way about the USA healthcare and it almost killed me several times!”

But I am not here today to worry about the past. I am here to talk about the present care that I get as I live in Russia. The healthcare I got in America really does not matter now and how anyone is treated in Russians healthcare is not an issue for me either. I just know what I am doing and what I am going through and what I deal with. With that said, “The healthcare in Russia is fantastic and I am satisfied!”

I promise you that you could take a two week vacation in America, come to Russia, cure your ails and go home and still spend much less money than you would in America (Including airline tickets, food and board!). With no vacation to boot in America. The cost of healthcare in America is outrageous and that is that… (Obama-care is making it worse not better!)

With that said, lets talk about what all this means and why I am thinking of it…

The last few weeks I have been seeing doctors and getting all my physicals done and medications adjusted and so on and so on. It always amazes me at the level of professionalism that I receive and see from a Russian doctor. Also 99% of the Russian doctors are women and that also always strikes me as strange. The world I came from, very few women are doctors and so thence it always catches me as strange. Then the price of visiting a doctor always catches me off guard. I am always pleasantly surprised, even after 7 years here, when I go to a specialist for a particular issue. An issue that a regular therapist does not deal with and I get the bill for an hour of her time and it comes to around 700 to 900 rubles. That is it and that in US dollars is around $20 to $30 and that is it. Out of that is her salary and the rest goes to the clinic. Do you have a doctor in America that works for a few bucks an hour and is happy to do their job? I did not think so…

Yesterday I spent an hour and a half with the Optometrist and she charges for half an hour. I spent a session with the Endocrinologist and it cost less than the last time I went. Everything is that way and truthfully the only thing that I get upset over pricing is when I have blood work done. I have to go to an outside source from the doctors and the cost is too high in my eyes. The last time that I had blood work done, I spent $150 and that made me grouchy. I am spoiled by cheap medical prices. I do realize that blood work like I had done would have been $500 or $600 in America, but still…

So as I sit here now, I have found another very good clinic and it is within walking distance of our flat. It is open long hours and has a wonderful intelligent staff that cares. There is one more thing that always strikes me as interesting when I go to see a doctor…

We always and by we I mean anyone who walks into the front door of a doctors clinic, has to put on these little shoe covers, before you walk around inside very much. Oh you can get to the front reception desk, but they will not let you go any farther after that without your “blue booties” as I call them. Russians do not have to be reminded, but even after all this time, this American has to be reminded most of the time. This all falls into the pattern of making sure shoes are taken off as soon as you step into your or anyone else home and at the doctor, you get those blue booties on…

Its just a waste to use them on me. My feet are so big that they do not fit and I have to tear them to get them on and at least look like I tried.

This is why, I just love Russia…

Post by Kyle Keeton
Windows to Russia…