The dentist I see is in one of the outpatient clinics of a hospital. There's a full range of services provided by a team of about eight dentists. There are stand alone dentist offices, but they typically don't take insurance, or maybe it's just the type of insurance I have. Dental cleanings are not covered by insurance at either place.
All medical and dental clinics are open until 10:00 at night. They close from about 1:00 to 4:30, and then stay open late. Many pharmacies are open 24-hours.
The American doctor I have to see to renew my medications is rarely on the late shift. He's the only doctor in this clinic who is authorized to prescribe one of the meds I use.
Every international airport I've been through has a pharmacy. This has really come in handy when you get off a flight feeling under the weather, although I usually carry a wide variety of "just in case" meds.
Side note - I'm on a soft diet because of the oral surgery, and went to the store looking for applesauce. Folks here have no idea what that is. So, being the resourceful person that I am, I went to the baby food section and found all kinds of pureed fruits. Of course I passed on the meats and vegetables.
Side note 2 - Speaking of soft foods, I've been having a hankering for grits, which I absolutely love, and to my wondrous delight, they are available from Amazon, too.
One of these days soon, I need to once again, count the many ways I love Amazon.
Side note 3 - It rained last night. Remember, it only rains four days a year, so this is a big deal. Unfortunately, I slept through it. It was wonderful walking outside to the smell of rain though.
Back to health care -
Antibiotics and many other drugs that are prescription only in the US can be purchased over the counter here. There is a long list of drugs banned from entering this country, most of which have to do with mental health, which is taboo.
The patient name and date the meds are dispensed is not included on medicine labels. The handwritten labels just provide the directions for taking them.
The hospital pharmacies are old school through and through. The pharmacies I worked in over thirty years ago were more modern and up-to-date than these. Nothing is computerized, everything is handwritten in ledgers.
My dentist wrote a prescription for the injectable meds he gave me, to replace the ones he used in his office. It led me to believe that he had to pay for these meds out of pocket. Could that be?
There is nothing ADA compliant about public buildings. There is a 1" x 4" that covers the threshold of every door, including the restrooms, making it very difficult to manage in a wheelchair. Most of the doors to enter the toilets, as they're called here, are way to narrow for a wheelchair.
Speaking of names for restrooms, in many countries I've visited, I ran into the initials WC, which stands for water closet.
As I've mentioned before, car seats and seat belts are rarely used. You can see kids riding in the driver's and/or front seat passenger's lap. I believe this is the reason most accidents result in fatalities. One of our teachers was in an accident days before school began this year where she was thrown from the car because she wasn't wearing a seat belt. She is paralyzed from the waist down. She has three children, all under the age of five. I'm told that there is a strong possibility that she will be sent back home to Egypt because her medical care is likely to be long term.
Side note 4 - Driving is Egypt and India was outrageous, but in the week that I was in each country, I didn't see an accident. In Jordan, where the roads were calm and the drivers friendly, I witnessed two.
Side note 5 - I've been following the tragedy at the elementary school in Connecticut. As a former principal, I think I can speak for us all and say we pray to God we never have to deal with an intruder on campus, especially someone who was bound and determined to take lives. I join my prayers with the million of others, for the victims and their families, of this terrible tragedy.
