La Medicina en Espana

As Amanda recently noted on this very blog, I was sick (until yesterday) with death-like symptoms that included a high fever, a sore throat, and a nasty metallic taste in my mouth. Luckily, I have defeated another terrorist bacterial infection and will live to post some more useless thoughts on this blog.

The Spanish medical system has proven itself very efficient in my limited experience. Do you want antibiotics? Just go to the pharmacy and ask for some! Do you need ridiculously strong ibuprofen (600 mg)? See the pharmacist! In fact, I'm pretty sure pharmacists in Spain are just doctors that don't take appointments.

Instead of simply seeing a pharmacist for this past illness, I decided to step it up a notch (or down... I'm not sure in Spain how this all works) and see a real doctor. I got an appointment with a doctor that speaks English, thanks to a handy list of English-speaking doctors posted on the US Consulate's website. The doctor met me promptly at my appointment time and was very helpful and friendly. His English wasn't 100-percent perfect, but I didn't care, given the limited number of Madrilenos who speak any English at all. During our discussion, he seemed like a great doctor; but I was slightly put off when I asked him to run a blood test, and he talked me out of it by saying, "you can't practice medicine like an engineer or an economist. In medicine, 2+2 does not always equal 4." I wasn't sure what he meant by that twisted logic and I didn't have the heart to tell him that I have an economics degree, and Amanda has an engineering degree. It just didn't seem worth it.

The rest of the visit was quick, and the doc diagnosed me with strep (later proven incorrect by the negative culture), sent me off with a prescription for Amoxicilin, and charged me 155 Euros. I'm not sure how Spanish medical insurance works for citizens, but I believe it is universal coverage. I don't have Spanish medical insurance, but I was happy enough to get out of the doctor's office for less than a few hundred bucks. Hopefully I got enough documentation from the office to comply with my American insurer's claim-filing procedures. Doubtful...

Overall, my experience with Spain's medical system has been positive. Regardless, I hope to spend the rest of my time in Spain with a body temperature hovering in the neighborhood of 98.6 and never see another Spanish pharmacist... Unless anyone needs me to bring home some of that ridiculously strong ibuprofen.