TalkBaja.com » Baja Mexico Forums » Medical / Dental Care in Baja

I understand that a lot of people don't place much faith or trust in the Mexican medical care community....it's my personal belief that that "opinion" is based more on hearsay, rumors & lack of personal experience much more frequently than it's based on any personal experience.

Of course, there's going to be the occasional doctor you may meet who you don't like....wouldn't go back to....wouldn't refer your worst enemy to....just like anywhere else in the world! And granted, even the most modern hospital on Baja might not have all the expensive most up-to-date equipment, so depending on your personal situation it MAY conceivably make more sense to take an occasional run back to your homeland for extremely specialized care.

I've lived in La Paz for 10 years & have never made a medical run "home". La Paz is my home, and I've amassed a collection of doctors in both general & specialized fields of care. I've been to ER in 4 different hospitals; only one of which I wouldn't go back to....nitpicky me!! I tend to have an aversion to laying on a gurney covered in someone else's blood to have an invasive procedure done! I've had 3 surgeries in two different hospitals, one under local & 2 cataract surgeries under general anesthesia, I've gone into ER 5-6 times in anaphylactic shock from wasp stings & once from an unknown reaction (but you can bet your last centavo that I'll never take a new medication while drinking Cran-raspberry & eating chocolate covered cherries simultaneously ever again!) I feel I've pretty much put the La Paz medical community to the test....and come out the other end alive & unmaimed! Out of all my experiences, there is just the one hospital I won't go back to, there's one doctor who won't be getting my repeat business & one dentist I wouldn't refer my worst enemy to! I personally have a lot of faith in the doctors here & have a list in La Paz I'd feel totally confident in recommending to anyone.

It's a given that sleepy little fishing villages & more remote small town clinics may have a totally different level of care & facilities, and you may have to drive a few hours for more extreme care.

What's your experience? Fears? Personal horror stories? Personal success stories? Questions?

My health insurance has a medical evacuation plan:

International Travel Insurance, Medical & Security Evacuation - MEDEX


And I also have a SPOT satellite tracker. I purchased the extra GOES insurance plan for $8.00 a year:

GEOS Rescue Center

Hopefully, these two services will at least cover the initial tratment and evacuation.

For "normal or routine" services, I will be using a local doctor, and for lower level emergencies, the nearby military (Army) hospital

I live close enough to the border to be able to follow a US doctor's advice:
"Unless it's a matter of life and death, get your medical attention in the states."

It makes sense from a practical point of view. US doctors are in school years longer than Mexican doctors and receive better training with better equipment. This is all fact with a few exceptions, of course.
That said, I've been to hospitals and emergency rooms in Mexico and have had good results. And, there's no comparison of prices. Mexico offers a true bargain.

One area of medicine would definitly take me north for treatment. That's the eyes. I don't care how well the Mexican expert has been trained, I would want more assurance and recourse in the event of a failed effort.
Anyway, there can be horror stories coming from both sides of the border but, all in all, the US gets my vote.

Then I would look at the GOES link on SPOT....apparently, they will come and get you anywhere

I've only been here a little over two years, so it hasn't really been put to the test. My only incident has been a broken finger, for which treatment at a local clinic was fine. By all accounts, medical care here in La Paz is excellent for all but very difficult cases, so my plan is to use the local system. If something looks iffy, I might go to Guadalajara, but care in the US would be a last resort unless I happened to be there.

Well, if anybody needs a procedure done in the US, do it now, before it becomes "free." After that, there won't be enough time left in your life to wait in the line.

Location! Location!! Location!!! After 10 years, I tend to think with a 950-miles-from-the-border-mentality.

Interesting fact: a lot of doctors I've seen here in La Paz have US diplomas hanging in their offices! Some have Mexican only & some have a mix of Mexican & US. Where they were trained isn't the key factor in my decision-making, but it's interesting to know that many here do have US medical degrees.

Nice to hear that the some of the local medical community has been through, at least in part, the US training system. That makes them better.
In fact, a Mexico trained doctor, if relocating to the US and wanting to practice, must return to school in the US to be brought up to par. It only takes four years and an intership in Mexico to practice medicine without a specialty. What is it in the states? Seven? Nine? Something like that.

Originally Posted by DianaT

I am really disappointed. This is the kind of comment that I hoped would not appear here. It is a right wing talking point against the proposed health care reform in the United States. I would feel just as strongly if it was a left wing talking point. This thread is about Medical Care in Mexico, not about politics in the US.

IMHO, the dropping of these little comments has strongly contributed to the decline of other forums. The first reaction of someone who disagrees politically, is to defend the proposed health care reform in the United States, and then it is off to the land of political debate and often the toilet --- certainly is off-topic, to say the least. Isn't that what the Far Side is for?

In the end, not my forum, not my choice, just my disappointment.

Politically, I am strongly in favor of a single payer health plan for the United States, and obviously Dennis is not---so should it be debated here?

Oh, Please, Diane.....It wasn't a political statement as much as a rendition of an old saying,"If you think health care is expensive now, just wait 'till it's free." Your last sentence would fall into the catagory of politics, the very thing you loath.
If this site is going to be as sterile as you think it should be, you can count me out of it. There's more to discourse than being driven crazy by a bunch of bouncing, moronic faces.

Originally Posted by DianaT

Yes, the comments are always defended and/or written off as "just kidding" or "just a saying", or "just teaching", or "just informing" .......

As I said, not my call, just my opinion and disappointment. And I will say no more.

Bye Bye. I'm outa here.

Diana,

I suggest you research health care in countries such as Canada and England. Dennis's point is a valid one and it seems that you are the one to make it political from the left. When I lived in Washington state the number of Canadian Citizens in Seattle seeking medical treatment would surprize you.

Ken

go ahead report me too!

Well, I think a lot has to do with what people are familiar and comfortable with. From the little I've seen and what I've been told, the Mexican system seems more like it used to be in the US, with tolerance for unscheduled accidents or illnesses as well as more personalized care. That's what I've been used to in other countries and what I hope for here. My recent experiences in the US have been few, but mostly negative. I'll leave it at that.

Originally Posted by DianaT

...I am really disappointed...

Me too.

Not really disappointed, but certainly not gratified.

We're not going to micromanage every deviation, inconsideration, ill-considered or ill-mannered comment. We think that would strangle any desire to participate from a wide range of people whose opinions differ from ours.

Instead, our role is to prevent malevolent, secretive activity done in bad faith with the clear intent to harm this community and impose another agenda that is not acknowledged, and certainly not proffered.

We see no bad faith here; not even bad manners really.

My best suggestion to apply to any posters that we don't think rise to the level of intentional disruption(and it is a very fine line) is to utilize a little automation.

You can craft your own personal board! Anybody that you think is over the line and we don't>>>put them over the line to invisibleland.

Originally Posted by DianaT

Politically...should it be debated here?

I don't think so; please don't.

Thank you all for your understanding and cooperation.

Originally Posted by Marty Cortez

Instead, our role is to prevent malevolent, secretive activity done in bad faith with the clear intent to harm this community and impose another agenda that is not acknowledged, and certainly not proffered.

Well said. Over-moderation isn't any prettier than under-moderation, IMHO.

Just wanted to chime in about the relative quality of medical care ...

I happen to correspond with Pescador a fair amount and I happen to know that without the medical facilities that his wife has had available to her recently in the US she would no longer be with us. It was touch and go there for a while but she would have never recovered without anything than the finest care available on this planet. When things got bad in baja they high-tailed it out of there driving practically round the clock to get her home and there is no question she wouldn't have lasted a week in baja. It's not my position to discuss the details but with things like cancer you just don't want to take chances.

I don't think it's that Mexican doctor's are less intelligent or capable than Americans. Many of the serious problems we face have not yet been fully resolved. The medical frontier is still moving forward. Much of those new discoveries, or trials are going on in the US with regular conferences among specialists who share their knowledge amongst each other. They even network amongst themselves personally. As a patient you get the benefits often before things have been confirmed. I'm talking about cancer, parkinsons, alzheimer's etc. There is no way the medical staff in La Paz is going to give you those kind of cure rates.

I also have a practicing surgeon from Argentina who has had to go through med school again in the US just to practice medicine. Are American doctors protecting their own interest with these requirements? Very likely.

Regarding website moderation:

It's not that easy. This one is still growing. You don't want to censor too many or you won't have enough to talk to. Ostracism is a luxury a small website needs to use judiciously. At least that's how I see it. On the other hand, nomads is in dire need of web moderator.

back on topic-
We haven't needed medical help in Mexico on our trips, thank goodness, and knock-on-wood.

A local newspaper columnist wrote a cynical article about an experience he had in Mexico versus the US. He's a surfer, I think he was somewhere near Todos Santos, dislocated his shoulder, went to the local clinic and for $100 and 40 minutes, shoulder was back in (set by the nurse, not the doctor) and he was out the door.

Dislocated his shoulder in the US, went to emergency at the hospital, it took something like 5 hours, no-one would set it cuz they weren't "trained", and there was noone at the hospital who was allowed to do it. Someone finally showed up and $800 later, he was out the door.

Personally, I travel 90 miles away from home to see a doctor I feel comfortable with even for my basic women's health procedures.

I moved from southern baja to northern baja so I would be closer to states for my medical problems. It was to expensive in Cabo and there was no pacermaker clinic (St Judes type pacer) in Baja. So now I go to VA in San Diego and they have been great. I seen the cardioglist twice in Cabo, each visit was $100.00 usd. Our neighbor had a heart attack and paid $13000.00 usd to be flown back to US as his insurance was not good in Mexico. I have best of both worlds now (get to live in Mexico) and free medical care in VA in San Diego.

HOLY SHEEP!!!!
With personal experiences like THAT, I don't blame you for the opinion you have of Mexican medical care! That can't even be rated as medical care....it doesn't even qualify as substandarddon'tgiveableep care!

I'm speechless! Does Mexico have any kind of investigative reporting that could do a factual expose' on the hospital? How that can be allowed to be the norm is beyond shocking.

That might shed some light on the high rate of kidnappings of docs in the TJ/Rosarito/Ensenada area. Undoubtedly they're being driven to undisclosed locations & forced to operate at gunpoint!

That only reinforces for me how lucky we in La Paz are to have what I consider to be very high level of professionalism & care. (Well, except for that physical therapist who was watching live female/female porn on his PC when my 85-year old mother & I were shown into his office! His level of professionalism was non-existent!)