You want me to get undressed...like, right now?
While you're still standing here.
Um, okay, but what about one of those little, flimsy paper gown things to cover up with?
Do I get one of those?
Hey everyone! I’m Dana and you’re watching Wanted Adventure Living Abroad.
As you might've already guessed from the beginning, going to the doctor in Germany
can be a little different from going to the doctor in the U.S.
For one thing, in the U.S. if a doctor needs you to get undressed they'll usually tell
you as much and then leave the room while you to do it.
Ummm, from my experience, not in Germany.
In Germany the doctor generally asks you to get undressed and then just kind of stands
there and waits while you to do it.
I know that rationally it makes no sense at all to be bothered by this.
The doctor is going to see you naked anyway.
But somehow to me, there is still a difference between the doctor seeing me naked and the
doctor watching me remove my clothes.
Sometimes the doctor turns to do something on the computer or to get something from another
part of the room and then I'll take that opportunity to quickly remove as many of my clothes as
I can while they’re not looking.
Also, in the U.S. if you need to get undressed you are given this flimsy, little paper gown
to put on over your naked body.
So the doctor leaves the room, you get undressed, and then re-dressed in the paper gown thing,
and then before coming back into the room the doctor usually knocks on the door and
makes sure that you are ready and covered and comfortable before they enter.
I can just about hear the Germans watching this video saying: "Why in the world would
you put on a paper gown when you’re there at the doctor for them to see you naked?”
As I’ve mentioned in I think the sauna videos, the nude in Munich video, and probably several
other videos, Americans in general, just are not as comfortable with their naked body as
people here in Germany seem to be.
So I guess the paper gown gives some kind of modesty, like a pretense of being dressed
while actually being naked.
Another thing that’s different is that when you walk into the waiting room of a doctor’s
office in Germany it is polite to say hello to everyone else in there.
But other than that, I would say that the waiting areas in the doctor's offices are
pretty similar in both countries.
You've generally got some magazines there to read, and maybe a small pile of toys in
the corner for kids to play with.
But another difference that I’ve noticed is that at my gynecologist in Germany, whenever
I go for my yearly check-up, she always offers for me to get an ultrasound,
even though I’m not pregnant
In the U.S. I always thought of ultrasounds as something that you get when you’re pregnant.
Those two things were connected.
And as far as I remember, I don't think I ever had a doctor in the U.S. offer me an ultrasound
during my normal yearly check-up.
But apparently they can also be helpful for detecting problems, even when you’re not pregnant.
And here in Germany, as far as I understand it, gynecologists have to offer this service
to you at your yearly check-up, and if you don’t want it you don’t have to get it.
But what I understand is that they do have to offer it and tell you about it and
explain to you that it is an option.
In both the U.S. and Germany sometimes doctors will prescribe you some kind of medicine that
you have to bring to the pharmacy to get filled.
But in Germany sometimes doctors will also write you a “prescription” for something
that you actually don’t need a prescription for.
Okay, wait, let me back up for a second there because I feel like
that doesn’t really make any sense.
In Germany the pharmacy situation is a little different from in the U.S.
Okay, actually it's a lot different.
In the U.S. you go to a pharmacy for prescription medicine and some particular non-prescription
pills, but there is also just a lot of medicine sitting out there in the store
that you can just pick out yourself.
Whereas in Germany there are actually very few things that you can get in the pharmacy
without talking to a pharmacist.
You can get sunscreen and chapstick, but even for ibuprofen and allergy medicine you go
up to the counter and you tell the pharmacist what you want or you explain to them what
you’re suffering from and then they’ll get the medicine for you.
So going back to the doctor now, in Germany sometimes doctors will write you a prescription
for prescription medicine.
For example, birth control pills or antibiotics.
But then sometimes in Germany the doctor will send you away from their office with a piece
of paper that, besides the fact that it is a different color, looks just as official
as any other prescription, but it’s actually for something that you could technically get
from the pharmacy without a prescription at all.
By writing it for you this way, it goes in your record, and it also just makes it easier
for the pharmacist to get you exactly what the doctor recommended.
And often the doctor “prescribes” you a different dose schedule from what is
recommended on the bottle, depending on what your doctor thinks you specifically need in
your situation.
So my question for you is: what differences have you noticed at doctor’s offices
around the world?
Please let me know in the comments below.
Thanks so much for watching.
I really hope that you enjoyed this video.
If you did, please don't forget to subscribe for more videos and hit that like button.
And also there's some other video up there that you might want to check out.
And for more photos and maybe sometimes other short video clips, you can check me out over here
on my Twitter and my Facebook page.
Until next time, auf Wiedersehen!
Lalalalala...lalalalala.
Can I do it? I can do it!
What is that? That was lame.
Uh-oh the giggles come. Okay. I'm ready.
Oh no, oh no, oh...