As you all know, I'm going to Mexico, where if the cockroaches don't kill you, Montezuma's Revenge will. To this end I decided to go get some shots today. Typhoid I already have, but I need Hep A and probably rabies because foaming at the mouth isn't my idea of a good time. Luckily my university vaccinates students for free, so that was exciting.
Getting universities at my school in America was easy: walk in without an appointment, talk to the doctor about where you're going and what you need, get shots. The end. I assumed it worked the same here, so first thing this morning I headed over to the university hospital. Which as it turns it looks almost exactly like an airport on the inside, complete with bright yellow terminal numbers all over the place. Except airports don't usually do brown carpeting from the seventies.
Anyway, after some confusion I managed to locate my terminal elevator (B3) to gate floor 14 and then the office. I filled out the forms for Hep A and Rabies and marched inside determined not to have a panic attack when I saw the needles. Here's the conversation that took place:
Dr. Asshat: So, are you a medical student?
Me: No, I study anthropology.
Dr. Asshat: I see. Where are you going?
Me: Mexico, for six weeks.
Dr. Asshat: Is this a requirement for your studies?
Me: Well, it's a requirement that we do a research project, yes. I suppose it's not a requirement that we go to Mexico, but that's where my project is.
Dr. Asshat: Well, then you can't get your shots for free.
Me: ...What?
Dr. Asshat: Shots are only for free if it's a requirement. You're just having fun.
Me: I am NOT just having fun! This is field research for anthropology.
Dr. Asshat: You are going (in English) just for fun, la la la. You don't have to go to Mexico. You could study Switzerland, that's also anthropology, amirite?
Me: But my project isn't in Switzerland, my project is in Mexico!
Dr. Asshat: Well, your department will have to sign off that it's a requirement. Otherwise, you can either pay for your own shots or go to Switzerland.
Me: Speaking hypothetically, how much would it cost to pay for the shots?
Dr. Asshat: Hep A...Rabies...at least 300 euros.
Me: It's fucked up that my hospital bills in Mexico would be less than the cost of the vaccines that would have kept me out of them.
Dr. Asshat: There's always Switzerland.
Me: WHAT THE FUCK IS UP WITH YOU AND SWITZERLAND.
At that point I got up and grabbed my stuff and was like, "This is a) ridiculous, b) over." He gave me the website I could download the Mexico-Is-A-Requirement form from and wished me good luck on convincing my department to sign it. I decided that I hate him.
I immediately rushed over to campus to print out the form. But guess what?
After trolling the internet for a half hour, I finally fished the form out of the bowels of another website, printed it, filled it out, and went searching for the people in charge of the social sciences. I knocked on a bunch of doors before I finally found someone who knew who I should talk to, trekked over to that office, knocked on the door, and was cheerfully informed that they would be SO HAPPY to stamp my form for me so I could get my shots for free. But...
...and there is always a but...
...first the head of my department had to sign off on it.
Seeing as they could make the difference between me getting rabies and me not getting rabies, I was very pleasant. But as soon as I walked out of the office, I banged my head on the wall a few times.
So now I have an appointment with the head of my department, and hopefully he will sign off on my free shots. Then in the middle of June I have an appointment at the airport hospital to discuss getting shots. Then hopefully I can go back the next week and get some. And if that doesn't work, well, there's always Switzerland.
And thus concludes the German Drama Llama: Vaccine Edition. Peace out, partners!
Edit: Thanks to my lovely boyfriend, I have found out that this shit goes way easier if I make an appointment with a regular doctor and just let my badass health insurance pay for it. So that's what's I'm doing!
6 comments:
what's your and the doctor's problem?
some health insurances pay for shots, some not.
http://www.test.de/Reiseimpfungen-Diese-Kassen-zahlen-1858473-1858475/
furthermore i never went to a hospital for shots because, of course, that might be a problem (a family doctor is the solution).
"America was easy: walk in without an appointment, talk to the doctor about where you're going and what you need, get shots. The end." --> it's the same in germany.
http://www.tk.de/tk/impfen/kostenuebernahme/kosten-reiseimpfungen/36038
Learn something every day. I had no idea they had preventative vaccine for humans for rabies. First reading of your blog entry I thought you were kidding Tina.
So I did a quick google and discovered a document at the CDC site for preventative rabies vaccine. In the US they have a 3 (three) shot schedule recommendation. Which just happens to be over a course of 3 to 4 weeks ...
Here's the link: http://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/pubs/vis/downloads/vis-rabies.pdf
Have a Great Day,
Jim X-s
They do have a preventative vaccine! Considering my needle phobia, I'm not particularly thrilled that it's three shots, but I suppose it's less shots than if I were to get rabies!
--Tina
I always have the same dilemma: either pre-inform myself by researching/asking which is stressing, or convincing myself there is a decent possibility that everything is done as in my native country.
Almost nothing is ever done as in my native contry in the end.
I'm not surprised that a German doctor is obsessed by Switzerland. It's filled with German doctors here. They earn more than in Germany and it's easy to be hired, since Switzerland is lacking doctors. Maybe he is thinking about moving here.
Yep, that's exactly what I did! I supposed that's why they say "when you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME!"
--Tina
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