My SO just finished her medical

[panthr]

She said that the doctors were extremely rude and condescending towards her. It first started when she called to see when she could come in to have the exam. They told her that she should come in at 8am because it can take many hours. She told them that she couldnt come in the morning because she has to work. Now she lives and works in GZ and knows where the hospital is and where she should go. When she told them this, they told her that if she comes in the afternoon that if she does not complete the exam then she might have to do it again another time. She decided to take her chance and go this afternoon.

So she goes in the door and the doctors were very rude and condescending over the smallest things. For example, she was supposed to give him 4 pieces of paper and she accidentally only gave him 3. He then yelled at her "What's the matter with you?! You are supposed to have 4 sheets..." So she found the fourth sheet and he grabbed it out of her hand. Needless to say this was making her even more nervous and humiliated. She said the staff was very unfriendly as a whole.

I guess in medical school in China, a good bedside manner is not taught nor is service with a smile. I dont know about other hospitals, but at least in the 1st Hospital of Guangzhou, tell your SO's to prepare for military style boot camp.

Oh and as a side note, it only took her just over 2 hours to complete

[dnoblett]

It was not quite that bad at the medical center on Shamian Island near the Old US Consulate, we arrived at 8am on a Sunday morning, and the place was an absolute Zoo after the Spring Festival break.

 

Consider they move people through the 2 medical centers like cattle, they must do several hundred people a week, so it tends to get a bit impersonal. The staff at Shamian Island seemed to be polite, and professional considering the large crowd of people there.

 

Even so, it took us 2 hours to go through all the tests.

 

After the interview we did go to the medical location in the city to see about the vaccinations, they told Yu to go back to Shamian Island for them.

 

Glad your SO made it through the exams OK despite the rude staff.

Edited March 27, 2007 by dnoblett (see edit history)

[jim_julian]

Hmmm ... well I guess different people have different experiences.

 

We used the First Hospital of the Medical College of GZ (that's an approximation of the name) and ran into a problem where they couldn't get lab results back in time for the visa interview the next day. When this was discovered, one of the doctors called the lab, which was about a half hour away by taxi, and asked them to pull our test out of sequence and process it immediately. It was late afternoon and she just caught the lab in time.

 

The visa medical section at the First Hospital was about to close for the evening but they promised to stay open just for us if we could go pick up the test results. We did, they did, and everything was completed about an hour after their posted closing time.

 

I don't doubt that they can treat people rudely. It's been my experience that people in China often treat each other in what I would call a rude manner. The point of this post is to say that at least some times they also bend over backwards to get the job done.

[bosco]

We went to the Medical College Hospital as well and everyone was processed like one large group. Ok everyone, step on the scale, now everyone go over to the x-ray room, etc. Everyone was pretty excited talking to all the others who were in the process together. It was a completely pleasant atmosphere although a bit like bedlam at times to my Western eyes. But they all seemed to be having a great time--lots of smiles and we had dinner with several others we met there.

[Steve and Aiwen]

We went to the Medical College Hospital as well and everyone was processed like one large group. Ok everyone, step on the scale, now everyone go over to the x-ray room, etc. Everyone was pretty excited talking to all the others who were in the process together. It was a completely pleasant atmosphere although a bit like bedlam at times to my Western eyes. But they all seemed to be having a great time--lots of smiles and we had dinner with several others we met there.

 

Best wishes for a sucessfull interview tomorrow!!! Think pink!!!!

 

Steve