That's no concert hall. Nope, it's the walk-in clinic I finally dragged my sorry butt into last night.
Since we left Vancouver in 2007 I've only been sick when I've traveled back to colder climates. I dodged the cold bug for three years in California but spent all of my trips back to Canada sick as a dog. I made it to a year in Singapore, again sick as hell both times I went back North, but always healthy here. So this is it, my first full on flat on my black with a real doozy illness in the tropics. And silly me, I waited 10 days to seek any medical care due to phobias of antibiotic-pushing doctors.
So rather than regale you with tales of exotic adventure I bring you the tale of my first ever encounter with the medical system in Singapore. Aren't you excited? Sorry, no other material to work with here. So we wandered into this walk-in clinic, filled in a form and were sitting in front of a Dr in about 10 minutes. He checked me out, decided I didn't need any antibiotics and send me off with all kinds of cold medicines, including some traditional Chinese ones. It turns out that you don't get this stuff at the pharmacy here, you get it straight from your doctor. The whole visit $24. With all the drugs $60. That's pretty crazy cheap and I was quite satisfied with the quality of care. If I think back to a trip I made into a walk-in clinic in the US last year, I believe my 5 minute appointment was $500.00. Doesn't that make your head spin? All my apprehensions about going to a doctor overseas are officially over. I give this little adventure into Singapore's medical system a thumbs up.
I'm a huge fan of the local healthcare system - much thanks to the low, low, low costs as compared to the U$A. I've only had great experiences here (though, I admit, much of my care has been at private clinics).
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