I suffered a minor injury a few days ago, nothing too big. Just twisted my leg and it’s almost better but since there was still some pain, I decided to go to a doctor just to get a quick consultation and make sure nothing’s seriously wrong.

Here is where this story gets interesting. I come from India, where the healthcare system is much less complicated, easily accessible and way cheaper than it is in the U.S. To top this off, I hail from a family of doctors, and when I say that, I mean I am literally the only non-medico in my immediate family of parents and a younger sister. Cherry on top, my parents run their own hospital back home. All of this basically means that for the larger part of my life, my medical care has basically heldsomething of a V.I.P. status, where most things are dealt with by taking a quick drive to our hospital and not needing to be in line for anything.

But since I now live in the US, I drove down to visit a doctor here. Since this was my first ever visit to a doctor here, I had some paperwork to fill out, which is fairly normal. They also asked for medical insurance details and identification, per the normal procedure. This is another difference. Indian healthcare systems do not require you to show proof of insurance at all. Your checkup with your doctor will take place based on 2 factors – 1. You are present yourself and 2. You have the ability to pay the consultation fees for that visit. 

It’s that simple. Really. 

Post filling out all the necessary information, I was taken in by a nurse to do a preliminary examination where they checked my height, weight, blood pressure etc. She also asked about my medical history, my family’s medical history, any hereditary health problems that I may be at risk for, also (adults turn away for fear of awkwardness!) my sexual history. 

Which is all fine and pretty standard, except that I just had a sprained ankle! At this point, I was thinking “Do we ever get to actually checking out my leg injury, at all??” 

Doctor came in post this holding a printed paper that contained all the details I just mentioned above. Then he asked me what was wrong, at which point I mentioned I had a sprained ankle. He asked how I sustained the injury and I mentioned it happened when I fell and twisted my leg. THEN he asked me to describe EXACTLY how it happened, including the details of which direction (clockwise or anticlockwise) my foot turned while it twisted and also how I fell down, was it on my side or did I just fall and sit on the ground? After a momentary stunned silence, I mentioned I don’t exactly remember all these details to the tee, to which his answer seemed to be to turn his own foot in various possible twisting directions and asking me to confirm which one I think it was. My only thought in my own head was “ummm..excuse me but what?!”

After all this hullabaloo, he did examine the pain areas and mentioned I might have a torn ligament and might need an X-ray and an MRI to confirm. I was so relieved to finally get a possible solution to this problem and thought I could leave but, of course, no. He felt the need to google and show me images of shoe types I am currently allowed to wear with an injury like this, and also shoe types I am NOT. And you may think all of this is REALLY STUPID, but here I feel I must tell you, that the medical system in the US is a highly procedure-based one. All doctors are required to give patients absolutely every single detail, cross every T and dot every I, all because of one constantly looming threat – lawsuits. Being sued for medical malpractice or negligence is very common in the US as compared to India and mainly out of the fear of this, doctors rarely stray away from these procedures, no matter how unnecessary they may be. 

If I was in India with this same problem, I would have seen a doctor who asked what the problem was, checked that problem area, with a pointed solution in hand, all in a matter of minutes. Our healthcare accessibility and ease of it is one area where India definitely comes out on top of most countries in the world, I’m very proud to say! 

Okay the story doesn’t end here. I did go to get the necessary X-ray and filled out another form there as well. I then stepped inside the room to take the X-ray and all was fine until the lady asked me “And so is there any chance you’re pregnant today?” What does this question mean? Does it imply that maybe I am today and maybe I won’t be tomorrow? When I responded saying “No”, she followed it up with “And you’re positive about that, am I correct?” I swear, these things really throw me for a loop! There are so many things I would lie to say back, but need to control myself at the same time 😛

Anyway, I am currently awating the results of the X-ray because apparently it takes a couple of days to get them. But in the future, I think I will request my body to hold off on all medical problems until there is an upcoming trip to India, and then I can just get all this done there. Please?