I'm a simple emigrant, and I will briefly tell you about medicine in Germany

In general, medicine here is divided into two groups: inpatient hospitals and practices. Today I’ll talk about practices, or Praxis in German. The main difference of the local system is the absence of polyclinics: each type of doctor has its own practice. There are no universal mandatory annual medical examinations here either. And if you want to, of course you can do one yourself. But arriving in the morning at one place and going through everything in at most a couple of days won’t work. Essentially you’ll have to make your own list and go through everything separately, booking appointments with each doctor. Of course there are buildings where the offices of several doctors are housed, but usually the general practitioner is in one place, the cardiologist in another, the gynecologist in another. The main doctor here is called Hausarzt, i.e., a family doctor. This is roughly like a GP for us, but broader. He keeps your entire health history. For example, sometimes you can have a blood test and an ECG right there with him. And the other doctors, in principle, should send him all documents about your visits – so he has the full picture. In Germany you are not tied to a district; often a Hausarzt has a family for decades, regardless of where the children have moved. You can choose any doctor; I’d recommend finding the nearest one if he isn’t awful. When you’ve visited him once, you’re automatically attached, but you can still go to another for a second opinion. The Hausarzt also acts as a gatekeeper for other doctors: mainly, he gives referrals so you can see a narrow specialist. But not always; you can check a specific doctor on Google. For now I still recommend booking doctors by phone or even just going there in person – that’s how appointments are issued faster and more eagerly. Nevertheless, to start you can always check Doctolib or Jameda. These are online systems for booking doctors; don’t forget to set the filter for your insurance. And be careful – sometimes doctors open slots for online consultations. If you think you only need online consultations, you can book. But it’s easier in that case to use TeleClinic right away. There’s a common joke about medicine in Germany: it will pull anyone from the grave, but first it will lead them there. People from all over the world come here for treatment in complex clinical cases (cardiology, neurosurgery, oncology). Nevertheless, everyday “ordinary” medical care can be quite disappointing. But even in this case the problem is more about bureaucracy and queues than the quality of treatment itself. For example, getting an appointment with a specialist can take months; you cannot buy antibiotics without a doctor’s prescription, and doctors don’t prescribe them freely. No joke, a doctor may simply suggest having tea or taking a walk. And I don’t think this is categorically bad; mostly it’s required by strict protocols of evidence-based medicine, not the doctor’s laziness. But waiting for an appointment is the main reason for dissatisfaction. Of course, if something urgent – you’ll be admitted immediately, but the clinic will decide the level of urgency. In any unclear situation, especially if you’re not sure whether to call an ambulance – dial 116117. There you can explain what happened. They will either immediately advise treatment, or help you book a doctor, or they will call an ambulance or emergency services themselves. If instead you decide to call an ambulance, be prepared that you may be asked to pay out of pocket for its dispatch if they deem the situation not critical enough. For example, if you can reasonably reach by car or taxi yourself – better do so, just not as a sacrifice. Overall, all medicine in Germany is covered either by public insurance, or private insurance, or additional narrow insurance packages, and finally you may have to pay out of pocket for something. A prescribed medicine on a doctor’s paper costs 5 or 10 euros, regardless of its original price, and I’ll write more about the insurances next time. #Ordnung #useful