Vancouver Medical Experience

[Our Mao 0]

The following talks about my experience yesterday at the Vancouver Medical Review at Woking Medical Center:

I was told to be there at 6:30am but I thought I'd be 'proactive' and get there by 6:15am. (Couldn't really sleep, was too excited... how lame huh??) Was having some trouble finding the parking lot and when I finally found it, I thought it look too 'dingy' and didn't want my car to be broken into so I parked across the street at St. Paul's Hospital's gated garage (paid only $7.50 for 3 hrs, not bad for downtown)

By the time I got to the entrance, there was already an elderly couple waiting there.. at 5:55am!!! So I asked them if there were there for the immigration medical and they said yes so I stood behind them... in the dark and in the cold.. no one came until 6:20am... a few more people were in line by then... Laura, the receptionist was there around 6:20am but she forgot her keys!! So she had to wait outside like the rest of us until the maintenance guy came and opened the door for us and we all huddled in.. by now.. the 'order' that we were in were all mixed up....

By the time we got into the 2nd floor, lights were not on... a minute later they were... Laura went to set up and get ready... We all sat in the waiting area for 'something' to happen... Meanwhile.. another 2 men came in... and guess what they did? They stood right in front of the door.. as if THEY WERE FIRST!! By this time, I was getting pretty pissed off because I was the one who stood out there in the cold since 5:55am this morning and those two had the nerve to come in at like 6:35am and expect to jump the line????? Do they think that we're DEAD???? GOOD THING Laura came to the rescue!! When she was ready to check us in, she said very loudly, Ok the old couple is first.. then (she pointed to me), you're next, and then she pointed to the next lady.. and she forgot about the rest of the order! So I very POLITELY pointed out the correct order.. I bet the others were glad I did.. otherwise those other people would have barged in front of them! hahaha

Ok, on with the real process. Laura checked us in. I was number 3 in line. (Older couple was 1 and 2) She checked our names off her appointment list. Writes a number next to our name on her list (that will be the order that you see the doctor.) Told us to read 2 pages worth of stuff, re write one of the sentence and sign it. .. then we had to go through that long list of medical conditions.. yes.. no... etc etc..check them off.. give it back to them.. I was super fast and finished first so I gave her all my papers.. she took my passport and immunization records and told me that I don't have to pay now (I had my $ in my passport) but at the end of the entire exam...she then gave me a number on a card... I was number 1.. (dont lose the card. it will be the order that you take your blood samples and your chest x-ray.) Then I was told to go through 3 doors to the blood lab. It was not yet open. By the, it was 6:45am.... We waited for a few minutes and I was chatting with a few people there... 2 on K1s and 1 on K3. No one knew about Visa Journey! We did our blood test.. took two tubes of blood... then we went back to the main waiting area and waited for the X-ray lab to open. They called numbers 1 - 4.. and we all went in.. changed into robes.. and lined up for the chest xrays.. Only 1 x-ray was taken.. I thought it was gonna be a couple! hahaha By the time I was done with all of the above. I went back to the waiting room..by now... I think there were way more people there...I scanned the list quickly when I was talking to Laura and estimated around 30 people! So ya, it was very busy! (FYI they only do this every Wednesday)

Waited and waited and waited.. and overheard Laura mentioning that the doctor will be there around 8am. Around 8:02am, the doctor marched in. And a while later, Laura called the older couple's names and they went in. Around 15 minutes passed. (I think the older couple were there before only because I overheard Laura telling them when filling in the forms, "just like last time, etc etc etc") So maybe they forgot something and had to come again? I don't know.... anyways... by around 8:25am, my name was called and I went in. Laura told me to remove all my clothing except for my bra and underwear... I covered myself up with the big piece of paper towel while I waited for the doc to show up. He arrived within 2 minutes. He said good morning to me, shoke my hand and told me his name is Bill. I was sorta puzzled because I thought the doctor's name was Ian Morgan?? Oh well, didn't care... hehe. The exam was really straight forward and fast. He looked at my ears, looked at my tongue, pressed my neck a bit. listened to my back, my chest, told me to lie down, felt around my breasts (for breast lumps, I suppose???) and then stretched my legs a bit.. and I was DONE! No looking down south or whatever! Laura was there the entire time. He also made small talk with me, asking me where I'll be moving to, and what I and my husband did... very nice doctor.

When it was all done, he said, ok everything looks good, now you can follow Laura and to get your eyes exam and get your height and weight in. So I went and got my eye exam... measured my height and my weight... the funny thing with the eye exam was.. I actually did better on the smaller letters vs. the bigger ones!!! Go figure! hahaha So I asked Laura if that was 'ok' and she laughed and said, yeah, that's fine! haha

So I was all done by 8:40am! Paid her, and was told to come back at 2:00pm for the results. I was gonna wait there but I figured that'll too long of a wait for me and I was sick the night before (I had stomach flu!! Vomitted 3x and went to bathroom 3x in the night, UNBELIEVABLE!! ) So I decided to go home and rest up and pick up the results at 2pm.

So 2pm comes and I returned to the building. Because I knew it was gonna be fast, I parked downstairs... The STUPID meter did not take coins!! And I put in $2.50 and was standing there waiting and I was like what's going on.. after about 20 seconds (and after they have eaten my money) I saw a very FAINT writing on the bottom saying that this machine does not accept coins.. so why didn't they tape up the coin hole then?? Or write in a darker ink! So I pulled out my credit card, paid the $2.50 (for THIRTY MINUTES only) figured that should be enough time.. and ran upstairs.. Laura wasn't quite ready yet! haha So I waited for around 5 minutes and some guy's name was called and when he came out, he had a big smile on his face and was waving his file around saying that he passed! So everybody was very happy for him. A moment later, Laura called my name so I went up and picked up my stuff. There is a brown envelope for your chest X-Ray and a SEALED envelope that has "US CONSULATE - DO NOT OPEN" stamped on it. So that's for the consulate. She also gave me a record of my immunization chart. She said I was good to go. Before I left, I asked her if eveyrhing was ok with my medical checkup and she said, yup, everything is good! So I went home happy... I called my husband as soon as I got out of the building and my Mom afterwards... My mom said we should go out for dinner to celebrate since I passed my medical exam! Is she funny or what?

Overall, it was a very easy and pleasant experience. I do advise that you get there early. I was there at 5:55am and someone was there before me! But I was done by 8:30am and you can either go back to work (I took the day off cause I was still so sick/tired) or take it easy!

Ok that's all for now! If you have any more questions, let me know!

O one more thing, that X-ray is HUGE!! I won't be able to fit it in my carry on luggage. I'm just gonna carry it in an envelope or a big plastic bag. I'm not gonna check my bags for 2 night trip to Montreal!!

My interview is in two weeks! I'll do another report then!

A

[Flames9_RN 358]

Damn, line cutters, lol Glad all went well

[Colin Wilson 0]

The following talks about my experience yesterday at the Vancouver Medical Review at Woking Medical Center:

I was told to be there at 6:30am but I thought I'd be 'proactive' and get there by 6:15am. (Couldn't really sleep, was too excited... how lame huh??) Was having some trouble finding the parking lot and when I finally found it, I thought it look too 'dingy' and didn't want my car to be broken into so I parked across the street at St. Paul's Hospital's gated garage (paid only $7.50 for 3 hrs, not bad for downtown)

By the time I got to the entrance, there was already an elderly couple waiting there.. at 5:55am!!! So I asked them if there were there for the immigration medical and they said yes so I stood behind them... in the dark and in the cold.. no one came until 6:20am... a few more people were in line by then... Laura, the receptionist was there around 6:20am but she forgot her keys!! So she had to wait outside like the rest of us until the maintenance guy came and opened the door for us and we all huddled in.. by now.. the 'order' that we were in were all mixed up....

By the time we got into the 2nd floor, lights were not on... a minute later they were... Laura went to set up and get ready... We all sat in the waiting area for 'something' to happen... Meanwhile.. another 2 men came in... and guess what they did? They stood right in front of the door.. as if THEY WERE FIRST!! By this time, I was getting pretty pissed off because I was the one who stood out there in the cold since 5:55am this morning and those two had the nerve to come in at like 6:35am and expect to jump the line????? Do they think that we're DEAD???? GOOD THING Laura came to the rescue!! When she was ready to check us in, she said very loudly, Ok the old couple is first.. then (she pointed to me), you're next, and then she pointed to the next lady.. and she forgot about the rest of the order! So I very POLITELY pointed out the correct order.. I bet the others were glad I did.. otherwise those other people would have barged in front of them! hahaha

Ok, on with the real process. Laura checked us in. I was number 3 in line. (Older couple was 1 and 2) She checked our names off her appointment list. Writes a number next to our name on her list (that will be the order that you see the doctor.) Told us to read 2 pages worth of stuff, re write one of the sentence and sign it. .. then we had to go through that long list of medical conditions.. yes.. no... etc etc..check them off.. give it back to them.. I was super fast and finished first so I gave her all my papers.. she took my passport and immunization records and told me that I don't have to pay now (I had my $ in my passport) but at the end of the entire exam...she then gave me a number on a card... I was number 1.. (dont lose the card. it will be the order that you take your blood samples and your chest x-ray.) Then I was told to go through 3 doors to the blood lab. It was not yet open. By the, it was 6:45am.... We waited for a few minutes and I was chatting with a few people there... 2 on K1s and 1 on K3. No one knew about Visa Journey! We did our blood test.. took two tubes of blood... then we went back to the main waiting area and waited for the X-ray lab to open. They called numbers 1 - 4.. and we all went in.. changed into robes.. and lined up for the chest xrays.. Only 1 x-ray was taken.. I thought it was gonna be a couple! hahaha By the time I was done with all of the above. I went back to the waiting room..by now... I think there were way more people there...I scanned the list quickly when I was talking to Laura and estimated around 30 people! So ya, it was very busy! (FYI they only do this every Wednesday)

Waited and waited and waited.. and overheard Laura mentioning that the doctor will be there around 8am. Around 8:02am, the doctor marched in. And a while later, Laura called the older couple's names and they went in. Around 15 minutes passed. (I think the older couple were there before only because I overheard Laura telling them when filling in the forms, "just like last time, etc etc etc") So maybe they forgot something and had to come again? I don't know.... anyways... by around 8:25am, my name was called and I went in. Laura told me to remove all my clothing except for my bra and underwear... I covered myself up with the big piece of paper towel while I waited for the doc to show up. He arrived within 2 minutes. He said good morning to me, shoke my hand and told me his name is Bill. I was sorta puzzled because I thought the doctor's name was Ian Morgan?? Oh well, didn't care... hehe. The exam was really straight forward and fast. He looked at my ears, looked at my tongue, pressed my neck a bit. listened to my back, my chest, told me to lie down, felt around my breasts (for breast lumps, I suppose???) and then stretched my legs a bit.. and I was DONE! No looking down south or whatever! Laura was there the entire time. He also made small talk with me, asking me where I'll be moving to, and what I and my husband did... very nice doctor.

When it was all done, he said, ok everything looks good, now you can follow Laura and to get your eyes exam and get your height and weight in. So I went and got my eye exam... measured my height and my weight... the funny thing with the eye exam was.. I actually did better on the smaller letters vs. the bigger ones!!! Go figure! hahaha So I asked Laura if that was 'ok' and she laughed and said, yeah, that's fine! haha

So I was all done by 8:40am! Paid her, and was told to come back at 2:00pm for the results. I was gonna wait there but I figured that'll too long of a wait for me and I was sick the night before (I had stomach flu!! Vomitted 3x and went to bathroom 3x in the night, UNBELIEVABLE!! ) So I decided to go home and rest up and pick up the results at 2pm.

So 2pm comes and I returned to the building. Because I knew it was gonna be fast, I parked downstairs... The STUPID meter did not take coins!! And I put in $2.50 and was standing there waiting and I was like what's going on.. after about 20 seconds (and after they have eaten my money) I saw a very FAINT writing on the bottom saying that this machine does not accept coins.. so why didn't they tape up the coin hole then?? Or write in a darker ink! So I pulled out my credit card, paid the $2.50 (for THIRTY MINUTES only) figured that should be enough time.. and ran upstairs.. Laura wasn't quite ready yet! haha So I waited for around 5 minutes and some guy's name was called and when he came out, he had a big smile on his face and was waving his file around saying that he passed! So everybody was very happy for him. A moment later, Laura called my name so I went up and picked up my stuff. There is a brown envelope for your chest X-Ray and a SEALED envelope that has "US CONSULATE - DO NOT OPEN" stamped on it. So that's for the consulate. She also gave me a record of my immunization chart. She said I was good to go. Before I left, I asked her if eveyrhing was ok with my medical checkup and she said, yup, everything is good! So I went home happy... I called my husband as soon as I got out of the building and my Mom afterwards... My mom said we should go out for dinner to celebrate since I passed my medical exam! Is she funny or what?

Overall, it was a very easy and pleasant experience. I do advise that you get there early. I was there at 5:55am and someone was there before me! But I was done by 8:30am and you can either go back to work (I took the day off cause I was still so sick/tired) or take it easy!

Ok that's all for now! If you have any more questions, let me know!

O one more thing, that X-ray is HUGE!! I won't be able to fit it in my carry on luggage. I'm just gonna carry it in an envelope or a big plastic bag. I'm not gonna check my bags for 2 night trip to Montreal!!

My interview is in two weeks! I'll do another report then!

A

Did you have to fast ( not eat anything for the blood test say for 10 hours before)?

Colin

[Our Mao 0]

No, no fasting is required at all!

[Marilyn. 340]

O one more thing, that X-ray is HUGE!! I won't be able to fit it in my carry on luggage. I'm just gonna carry it in an envelope or a big plastic bag. I'm not gonna check my bags for 2 night trip to Montreal!!

My interview is in two weeks! I'll do another report then!

A

I would suggest just rolling it up and putting it in some sort of tube thing....

[Carlos at Tessa 0]

Thanks for the post! It was very informative. I'll be having my medical next wednesday. I have to figure out how to get there since I'll be taking public transpo. I have to wake up early....argh!

T&C

[mozplay 29]

Glad you had a positive experience and I took my x-ray out and rolled it up in a canada post tube too.

Mo

[Our Mao 0]

Thanks for the advise about the tube! I really didn't think I could do that... haha.. but now I do! Thanks Marilyn and Mo!

[Lance27 20]

Wow an eye exam too? I dont think they do that here in Toronto. They just take your word on the hight and weight bit also.

Thanks for the advise about the tube! I really didn't think I could do that... haha.. but now I do! Thanks Marilyn and Mo!

[Cassie 8]

Thanks for the advise about the tube! I really didn't think I could do that... haha.. but now I do! Thanks Marilyn and Mo!

x-rays can be rolled, but not creased or folded. Creases damage the integrity of the image. My mother, a former X-ray technician, suggested using a cardboard roll.