My next trip was to a dentist. Let me tell you, from now on I am saving money and paying out of pocket for a dental cleaning when I visit the US. These dentists are absolute jokes compared to US dental cleaning. I had been told previously that this was the case and that dentists here barely touch your teeth, so I even asked around for recommendations. First of all, you have to ask for a cleaning or they'll just examine your teeth and gums for cavities and disease and call it a day. So I asked and all he did was manually descale like 5 teeth and send me on my way. No descaling each tooth, no water pick, no fluoride treatment, no flossing, no polish, nothing.
My next trip was to an ear, nose, and throat doctor and was a much better experience. Jeremy and I have been having infections on our tonsils since November that no amount of antibiotics would get rid of, so our general doctor finally sent us to an ENT. Well, this doctor was the friendliest doctor I have ever met. He knew a little English and was just thrilled that two Americans wound up in his office. The three of us talked about all kinds of things, just chatted away. Once we actually got to the medical reason we were here, as soon as we started explaining our predicament he knew exactly what was going on. It wasn't infections, but tonsil stones. That's right, just like kidneys and gallbladders, tonsils can make stones too! And just like kidney and gallbladder stones, they are just as unwanted though admittedly much less painful to deal with.
He took a look in our mouths without gloves which really skeeved me out. Like, I get that he knew we weren't contagious, but how do I know he didn't put ungloved hands in other mouths and forget to wash? I don't want to taste your salty hand, thank you. Blegh. Anyway, he said it's most likely due to a diet change, which is ironic considering we eat so much healthier now, or allergies so he sent us off for blood work that checks for allergies to the 30 most common foods, local plants, molds, etc. We will get those results in a week or two as they have to get sent out to a lab in Paris. Regardless of his ungloved state, he was so friendly I would recommend him in a heartbeat. He even only charged one exam for the two of us!
My next and final trip was to my general doctor to refill prescriptions. That's right, here you have to see your doctor every time you need to renew a prescription. To be fair, she had given me a 6 month prescription but here's another thing that happens in France. The pharmacy will only give you one bulk packaging's worth of prescriptions at a time. For example, in the beginning I took Pentasa for my ulcerative colitis 4 times a day. The biggest box Pentasa comes in is 120 packets (they're granules so they come in what looks like sugar packets) so even though my prescription prescribed 3 months worth, the pharmacy would only give me one box which, at 4 packets a day, only lasted me a month. Furthermore, they don't keep a record of refill allotment in their database; it is your responsibility to hold onto the prescription paper and return with it every time you need a refill. They will stamp it each time to keep track of how many times they've refilled it. It's silly and annoying and heaven knows I am not an organized person so I always lose the prescription and have to go back to my doctor for another prescription.
Which brings me back to my final trip. In France you have to make an appointment and pay for an office visit just to walk in, say "Hi I need a refill of _____." and walk out. I mean, it gets reimbursed by your insurance but just the fact that you have to make an appointment, go to said appointment, pay 26€, and wait at least a month for the reimbursement of said 26€ for something that is free and takes a 2 minute phone call in the US just really works me up. One of the reasons for this is while French health care is wonderful for the people, it kind of stinks for the doctors. The government sets a given price for each type of doctor and service so doctors can't overcharge their patients. This means every general practitioner in France, no matter how awesome or mediocre, whether they live in Paris or the sticks, can only charge 26€ for an office visit whether it's out-of-pocket or via health insurance. That's not a lot of cash, and doctors make up for it by having you make an appointment for every little thing, including prescription refills.
Even with these little tricks, French doctors make substantially less than US doctors. According to the good ol' internet, as of January 2016 the median income of a US general practitioner working 5-10 years is $168,000 while in France the median income of a gp who has been working at least 10 years is 84,000€ which is, according to today's exchange rate, $95,932. It's considerably less, but then again French doctors don't have to pay as much out to insurance companies and don't have any student loans. They also don't have nurses or assistants to pay, and often only have one receptionist or no receptionist but an answering service.
That's about it in doctor adventures except for the drama of still not having a carte vitale, while is like having an insurance card. Instead I have to carry around pieces of paper with me which seem to boggle the minds of many pharmacists and doctors who don't know how to deal with them because French people have a carte vitale practically at birth. Of course the one time I went to a pharmacist other than my regular one, the pharmacist flat out told me I would have to pay in full and get reimbursed because she didn't know how to deal with my papers and enter them into the computer. Last time I go there! Wish me luck for my new osteopath doctor! Hopefully I will only have good things to say about her!