Wednesday, September 15, 2010

Card-Carrying Membership

Minutes from the Diamond District apartments and almost a rite of passage for Westerners, the Manipal Univesity Hospital is definitely deserving of its own post.


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I headed there on week two for exactly the reasons you'd suspect (no worries, I'm fine now). The doctor was very good and knew almost exactly what to prescribe by simply looking at me. I was taken by the differences from the medical facilities in the States to here.

One of the first surprising things is one pays before visiting the doctor. My visit was Rs. 300, or about $6. I also became a member for Rs. 100 ($2). Another Rs. 400 for the prescriptions, and I had spent under $20 for a trip to the hospital. It's service like this that makes it an unquestionably wise decision to go at the first sign of trouble. Seen below is the back of my membership card. Impressively, the front contains my name and vitals; it was printed as I wanted waited for mere seconds.

Manipal Card

Prescriptions are different here as well. It appears a doctor's note isn't necessary for medications. A coworker, upon seeing my malaria prescription, asked why my name was on it. As I waited for my electrolytes and general stomach-bettering prescriptions, I snapped this photo of the pharmacy.

Pharmacy

In all, my visit was 2 hours at the most. I went on a Friday and began feeling better by Sunday.

1 comment:

  1. Manipal University has a great med program--I have a few friends that go there. More importantly, I hope you are feeling better. Take care!

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