Jim King
10-01-2010, 10:58 AM
For the most part people here work very hard to maintain our third world status but every once in a while you can be surprised. I will copy a letter posted by a friend from Grantsburg, WI about our medical care here. He came down about a month ago for a week and left happy as you can see.
I have had the same experience as he has had.
There is more to health care in Iquitos than ayahuasca and shamans.
A guest post by Dave Volkmann
I just had to write this to show my appreciation for the good health care I have gotten from the professionals in Iquitos. There are so many stories about ayahuasca and shamans in tourist publications and nothing about conventional health care in Iquitos. Ayahuasca, shamans and prayer have a place in healing, but they don’t fix broken bones, deliver babies and put an end to tooth aches. Iquitos health professionals do all this and they don’t break the bank doing it. Ask any of the expats.
I will only comment on my own experience as being a frequent visitor to Iquitos and married to a Peruvian.
C-section
Our daughter had a C-section in the emergency room at the most expensive hospital in Iquitos. A surgical team had to be assembled in the middle of the night and our daughter and granddaughter had to stay in the hospital four days. The total cost $1,050.00. There are no visible scars, and they are both doing great 2 years later. Do you know what this would cost in the states?
Nursing school
Our daughter graduated from nursing school in Iquitos with a nursing degree after 3 and a half years of full time schooling. She was taught things only doctors do in the states. She is now going to nursing school in the states so she can practice her profession, and it is so easy for her after the rigorous training she had in Iquitos.
Your not going to come all the way to Iquitos to have a baby or fix a broken bone. If you live here though, you do have good health care at your finger tips.
Dental care
The best kept secret is the dental care. You are going to come to Iquitos for major dental work. The quality is here, the price is right, and it’s safe. They have the most modern 3 year old dental college in the world right here in Iquitos. Someone should do a story just about that college.
I just completed having implants, crowns and bridges in Iquitos. The two estimates I received in one of the most rural and low cost of living areas in the United States was $20,000.00. The cost in Iquitos was $6,000.00.
Safety
I have never seen such a sterile operation in an OR for major surgery in the states as I did in this facilities. Everything was covered with sterile fabric including the hoses for the drills. Footwear was covered as you entered the door. No one was allowed in or out of the room until the surgery was completed. The work was done around my schedule not theirs. The surgery was completed at 10:00pm on a Friday night and the oral surgeon had me come in on Saturday afternoon for a follow up. He has only licensed dentists for assistants in the room.
Quality
I can only say my personal friend and dentist back in the states asked me if I had the work done in Hollywood because it looked so good.
Pain
I almost forgot to mention that. There was none. Before, during or after surgery. Why? I don’t know and don’t care.
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/Themes/default/images/icons/modify_inline.gif
I have had the same experience as he has had.
There is more to health care in Iquitos than ayahuasca and shamans.
A guest post by Dave Volkmann
I just had to write this to show my appreciation for the good health care I have gotten from the professionals in Iquitos. There are so many stories about ayahuasca and shamans in tourist publications and nothing about conventional health care in Iquitos. Ayahuasca, shamans and prayer have a place in healing, but they don’t fix broken bones, deliver babies and put an end to tooth aches. Iquitos health professionals do all this and they don’t break the bank doing it. Ask any of the expats.
I will only comment on my own experience as being a frequent visitor to Iquitos and married to a Peruvian.
C-section
Our daughter had a C-section in the emergency room at the most expensive hospital in Iquitos. A surgical team had to be assembled in the middle of the night and our daughter and granddaughter had to stay in the hospital four days. The total cost $1,050.00. There are no visible scars, and they are both doing great 2 years later. Do you know what this would cost in the states?
Nursing school
Our daughter graduated from nursing school in Iquitos with a nursing degree after 3 and a half years of full time schooling. She was taught things only doctors do in the states. She is now going to nursing school in the states so she can practice her profession, and it is so easy for her after the rigorous training she had in Iquitos.
Your not going to come all the way to Iquitos to have a baby or fix a broken bone. If you live here though, you do have good health care at your finger tips.
Dental care
The best kept secret is the dental care. You are going to come to Iquitos for major dental work. The quality is here, the price is right, and it’s safe. They have the most modern 3 year old dental college in the world right here in Iquitos. Someone should do a story just about that college.
I just completed having implants, crowns and bridges in Iquitos. The two estimates I received in one of the most rural and low cost of living areas in the United States was $20,000.00. The cost in Iquitos was $6,000.00.
Safety
I have never seen such a sterile operation in an OR for major surgery in the states as I did in this facilities. Everything was covered with sterile fabric including the hoses for the drills. Footwear was covered as you entered the door. No one was allowed in or out of the room until the surgery was completed. The work was done around my schedule not theirs. The surgery was completed at 10:00pm on a Friday night and the oral surgeon had me come in on Saturday afternoon for a follow up. He has only licensed dentists for assistants in the room.
Quality
I can only say my personal friend and dentist back in the states asked me if I had the work done in Hollywood because it looked so good.
Pain
I almost forgot to mention that. There was none. Before, during or after surgery. Why? I don’t know and don’t care.
http://www.forestryforum.com/board/Themes/default/images/icons/modify_inline.gif