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I had to go to the hospital last week with the other WorldTeach volunteers to get our health checks as one of many requirements we must meet in order to obtain our official work visas for Vietnam. This has been quite an extensive process. This was our last step and it took about 5 hours to finish today.
We got to the hospital around 9am and had to wait for quite a while to get the necessary paperwork we needed to see all of the doctors. After obtaining the paperwork I had to get my blood drawn, pee in a cup (and the hospital bathrooms had no toilet paper...), see a dentist, an optometrist, an ENT, get lungs and heart checked, received an X-ray on my lungs, saw a general practitioner, and completed a color blindness test. What a day it was! The country has to ensure that we are all healthy in order to issue our work visas. Also, all of the doctors and nurses left around noon for lunch so we had to leave and come back at 2 to finish up. Can you imagine that happening in the states? I will say though... all of that cost about $10.
I was very shocked walking into this hospital. People were wandering all around trying to find doctors to help them and I saw some very sick people waiting in the same places I was waiting. One woman had a shriveled, bloody, and blackened hand and no one seemed to have any interest in helping her. I'm also fairly certain that they used the same instrument tools at the dentists office on other patients without sterilization. This has made me realized how lucky I have been in the past to have had such excellent medical treatment. Don't ever take that for granted again my friends!
Here are some pictures of the hospital. I'm hoping I will stay uninjured throughout my stay.
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| Front view of St. Paul's Hospital in Hanoi, Vietnam |
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| X-ray waiting room |
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| X-ray room (like how the door stays shut?) |
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| Construction on the other side of X-ray room |
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| Construction in the hospital |
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| Great looking signs |
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| Many departments are all in one hallway |
Until next time,
kelley
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