Going abroad for treatment
Most of what goes wrong on a medical trip is not clinical. It is a document that was never translated, a bill nobody mentioned, an interpreter who turned out to be a friend of a friend, or a follow-up plan that ended at the airport.
Four things decide how a medical trip goes, and none of them is the operation: which language the ward actually runs in, which documents get accepted, who is billing you and for what, and who takes over when you land back home.
Every entry here ends with a list of things to verify yourself, because the parts that change most are exactly the parts a page cannot be trusted on.
Southeast Asia
Singapore
The most common snag is a stay that runs longer than planned, which pulls both cost and paperwork …
Thailand
The common snag is interpreting: someone who translates is not the same as a trained medical inter…
Malaysia
The common snag is that facilities differ far more than people expect — do not generalise from an …
Vietnam
The common snag is assuming every facility has an international desk — variation is wide, so ask e…
Northeast Asia
South Korea
The common snag is discharge paperwork only in the local language, discovered after getting home.…
Japan
The common snag is time: from sending records to getting a date can take far longer than expected.…
Taiwan
The common snag is the records stage: without original images a remote assessment cannot be done, …
South Asia
Middle East
Europe
Germany
The common snag is that the paperwork must be complete BEFORE you fly: one missing step and the ap…
France
The common snag is language outside the consultation itself: admissions, nursing, and post-operati…
United Kingdom
The common snag is the referral letter: without one, many specialties will not take a direct booki…