While in Santiago for a month, I developed a cough and sore throat that progressed beyond what I first thought was allergies. It got bad enough that after 10 nights of keeping myself and Andrew awake with my coughing, I figured I had a respiratory infection and needed some meds. Here’s a quick overview of my experience with tips for seeking non-urgent medical attention in Chile (with very limited Spanish).
- Try a nearby farmacia for over-the-counter meds that likely won’t be sufficient for your symptoms. But if those meds work, consider yourself lucky!
- Google English-speaking doctors before giving up and trying the nearest Clinica RedSalud.
- Fail to book an appointment online because you don’t have a Chilean phone number, wander into the empty clinic on a Sunday, and be taken care of by 3 lovely women and a translator app. They give you an appointment for the next day. This is clearly not protocol, so be grateful.
- Arrive at the clinic early the next day, but almost not early enough. Bring a buddy with you, if you can, and arrive at least 30 minutes early to be safe.
- Go to the information desk with your printed appointment information (which the ladies gave you yesterday). The woman explains that you need to go around the corner to pay before going to the 3rd floor to see the doctor. Do not try to use the self-pay kiosks along the wall.
- Around the corner, there is a long line at one desk, and a large waiting area in front of 6 desks. You don’t know which to choose, but hopefully you have a buddy/amazing husband to wait in the long line while you investigate the waiting area.
- Spot a check-in tablet in the waiting area, sign in with your passport number, and get a printed slip of paper with a number on it. Notice that there’s a board behind the 6 desks flashing up similar numbers with a corresponding desk to go to.
- Go back to the long line to retrieve your husband, who has figured out that the line is for people trying to book appointments.
- Sit in the waiting area for about 10 minutes until your number flashes on the screen; walk to the desk indicated.
- The woman at the desk takes your paperwork and passport and asks what insurance you have. You tell her none (you don’t have any that is relevant in Chile), and she takes your payment of $42,378 (about US$45) with your credit card. She gives you a receipt and tells you to go to the 3rd floor.
- Take the elevator to the 3rd floor and become overwhelmed.
- It’s another big waiting room with a sign-in tablet. It seems to be another area to pay for services. You try to sign in before a security guard looks at the receipt in your hand and tells you that you don’t need to do that. Sign-in is for people who need to pay.
- Get some confusing information from the security guard who is trying to be helpful but seems to tell you to just pass through the waiting room to the back area. It feels weird, but you do so and wander around the back area where the examination rooms are, find another desk, and ask them where to go.
- They tell you to go back to the waiting area until your name is called. Now you start stressing that they called your name while you were wandering around the back area. At this point, it’s about 5 minutes past your appointment time.
- Almost as soon as you’re back in the waiting room, you hear your name over the speakers and a number. Numbers are your weakest area of the Spanish language. Start panicking that they are going to move on to the next person.
- They call your name again and this time your husband understands the room number. He leads you back to the consultation area where you see your kind-looking, gray-haired, white-coated doctor waiting outside the door for you. He is a life raft in your rising sea of stress.
- Explain to your doctor that your husband is with you because you both suck at Spanish, and maybe between the the 2 of you, you’ll understand him. He isn’t bothered at all to have another person in the room and tells you (in English) that he lived in Texas for 2 years. He speaks to you in English the whole time.
- He does a quick examination and prescribes 3 meds: one for the cough, one for the drainage, and an antibiotic.
- Skip out of the clinic on a happy-high, hit up a farmacia around the corner with the friendliest pharmacist in the world, and receive your medicine immediately for $23,480 (about US$25).
- Head home and start recovering!
Total cost, including the doctor’s visit and 3 prescription medications (without insurance): About US$70.
Clearly, the whole process would have made way more sense if I spoke Spanish, but we muddled through. I’m sure I annoyed some clinic staff in the process, and I’m sorry for that. If you find yourself needing healthcare in Chile, just remember that you pay for the visit BEFORE you see the doctor, so allow for plenty of time. Bring a friend with you if you can, have a translator app ready on your phone, and try to stay calm.
