Montreal Medisys Review

[jessicashmessica 10]

I had my medical last Tuesday. I wanted to give you guys a run-down of my experience, in case it helps.    

 

I went to Montreal, to Medisys, which is at a new location, and is now called Horizons, but I think they’re also keeping the name “Medisys” in their signage. Anyway, I live in Ottawa (a close drive of 2 hours or so) so I made the appointment early ie two weeks to the day before my interview. Before then, I went to my own doctor and got my flu shot and my MMR shot as well as the amalgamated list of my immunization history from him and from the city.

 

Medisys also asked for 5 (five) US size passport pictures so I went to Costco and got 16 lol. I figure I’ll need them before this process is over, and they’re super cheap there.  

 

Here’s the email Medisys sent me:  

 

“Dear customer,  Thank you for scheduling an appointment with Horizon Occupational Health Solutions. All details pertaining to the required preparation are indicated below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-361-3493.  

 

Followed by my name, the date, the time, and the location of the interview (Medisys Montréal 600, Blvd Maisonneuve Ouest 22e Étage Montreal, QC  H3A 3J2 1-514-845-1211) and the name of the doctor (Dr. Ilana Galperin) with the following:  

 

Reminder    

Our clinic name has changed to Horizon Occupational Health Solutions.    

 

Medical preparation    

Some exams that will be conducted during the visit require special preparation. Please take note of the following:  

-Bring your prescription glasses/lenses.  

-Bring valid photo ID.

 -Bring immunization booklet.  

-Bring your P4 documentation, i.e. embassy letter, date of interview and case number.  

-Valid passport and 5 passport size photos.

-Intended address in the U.S.A.  

-List of prescribed medication or letter from an MD Payment    

 

If applicable, we accept payment by cash, Interac and credit card (Visa, MasterCard and American Express).”    

 

So, as you know, we (CR1/IR1) don’t have a P4 document. The print-out of the email alerting me to my interview date with my case number on it was enough. I brought my glasses and my immunization records as well as my passport with the 5 extra photos. I don’t take any medications so I was fine on that front and, re intended address in the USA, I brought a copy of my husband’s lease agreement. I had a feeling it wasn’t needed (I was right: you simply fill it in a form) but, with this whole process, I’ve always erred on the ‘better safe than sorry’ side.    

 

OK, so, if you’re driving and you’re using Google Maps, it will lead you to the side of the building opposite where the underground parking is. As usual, Montreal is a cesspool of never-ending construction so you’ll have to go around a few streets to get to the underground parking entrance but it’s easy enough.    

 

I got there early. There’s a man inside the parking space who, if you ask him, will tell you the best place to park so that you’re near the right elevator. However, it was really full that day so the elevator I took up led me to a mall lol, next to a Dynamite. Hilariously, I was parked on P2 so the elevator had four buttons: P2, P1, lobby 1, lobby 2. HOWEVER, lobby 1 and 2 are the same floor/same place lmao. Very weird.

 

Anyway, so I got out at lobby 1 (which is also lobby 2–so weird!) and walked a bit towards an escalator (narrow; you’ll know it because you can’t pass anyone––it’s only as wide as one person), which I used to go up. I then crossed a kind of vestibule (you’ll feel the outside climate here; I think I took the elevator to a mall that connects to the KPMG building where Medisys operates) where there were two sets of elevators. One was for floors 1 to 19 and the other for 20 to 37. Medisys is on 22 so I obviously took the second one.    

 

I’d read previous reviews of the old Medisys location, which described it as crazy busy with barely any room to stand. This was not that. This new location is beautiful and clean and spacious. They also now have three floors, which I’m guessing helps lol. Anyway, I was early but they saw me right away. The receptionist took my passport, my letter, my pictures, and my immunization record from me. She stapled all 5 pictures together to some document, which I thought was interesting, since they had me bring the pics just to put staple holes in them. Anyway, I was handed some forms and I filled them out. Just your standard medical history. Some questions were kind of dumb, like asking about nearly extinct diseases or if I’ve ever felt so depressed I was murderous lol, but it was fine.    

 

Despite being a whole half-hour early, I was taken in to do my chest x-rays. Pregnant or not (I’m not), you have to do them or you won’t get your visa. It actually says that on their forms. I got a green gown and had to remove my necklace, bra, and shirt. I kept all bottoms on and my heels, and they gave me a room to change into the gown and back into my clothes, don’t worry. It’s very private. The tech undid my gown in the back. It was four quick deep breaths and that’s it. She gave me an orange piece of paper and asked me to place it in a pigeonhole/mail slot on the wall. I did. Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 5 minutes.  

 

About 10 minutes later, a nurse called me into a room. He took my blood pressure twice (which was high but lol as I found out later, that was because I was holding my pee (I’ll get back to this)), my weight, height, and then made me do a vision test. I had to do it without my glasses on then with them one. Kind of dumb but alright.  Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 7 minutes. 

 

About 20 minutes later, a different nurse called me into a different room. She took a blood sample, for syphilis testing lol, and blood pressure, which was still high. She handed me a cup to pee in, for gonorrhea testing, and I said, “oh thank goodness, I’ve been holding it since I left Ottawa” lol. She said that that was probably why my blood pressure was high. She instructed me to pee in the cup in the bathroom and was really insane about how I was not to go above the line she marked on the cup lol. It was kind of ridiculous how she kept saying “do not go above this line” and the line is actually quite low to bottom of the cup, so I had to pour some out into the toilet bowl lol sorry for the TMI. In the waiting room, by the doors, there’s a black window in the wall that you open and put your pee cup into. So, if you’re like me and you think it’s a bit gross to walk back into a waiting room full of people just casually holding a cup of your urine, use a paper towel from the bathroom to conceal it lol. After I dropped the cup off, I went back into the room where she did the blood sample. I have to say, I have traditionally very crappy veins and I told her as much, that she’d have a hard time, but she didn’t care and kind of stuck me willy nilly without so much as ensuring the vein was there. The vein WASN’T there so she ended up needing to a butterfly needle in my hand. I’m used to the butterfly needle and the phlebotomist not being able to find a vein plus I am not scared of needles but it WAS pretty unprofessional that she stuck me without properly finding a vein first so, if you’re scared of needles, just watch out lmao. (She actually told me she wanted to be the one exception re people having difficulty finding a vein. The way she wiggled the needle around inside my arm would have made someone else faint. Seriously: watch out lol.) She then took my blood pressure, which had normalized after I peed, so I was in the clear. I asked if I needed any new vaccines, and she said I had them all but the pneumococcal and meningococcal, which I’d only need if I was under 18. I saved myself $600 lol thank God. Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 15 minutes, including going away to pee.

 

About 20 minutes later, the doctor called me in. She must be the busiest person on earth because she walked so fast I almost lost her lol. She sat me at her desk and went over my form answers, which was easy because I have no diseases or conditions so she was just verifying that I had meant to check ‘no’ on everything. I am anemic but barely. I occasionally take iron myself, which isn’t prescribed, but she wanted to know the kind and wrote the supplement name down. Weird, and overly careful, but I get it. She then asked me to take everything off but my bra and underwear and to change into a robe. She left the room while I did that and came back a few minutes later. She shone a light into my ears, eyes, nose, and throat. She asked me to breathe with a stethoscope on my back 3 times. She pressed my throat and stomach. She hit my knee with the reflex hammer. And then she asked me to get dressed, and left the room for me to do so. The whole thing took under 3 minutes.

 

Then I went back to the waiting room. The receptionist called me over. My packet would be ready in three days, unless my tests showed any problems, in which case they’d call me. I could either pick it up after three days up to the day before my interview, or have it mailed to me for $50. I opted to pick it up the day before my interview. I paid $475.63 and received a receipt. Before going, I was asked to sit by the receptionist desk where they have a webcam. They took a picture and I was free to go. They do not validate parking and the total for the 1-1.5 hours I was there was $17. There’s a McDonalds in the food court downstairs and I got a McChicken lol. Two days later, I got an email saying my packet is ready for pick-up.   Hope this helps!     

[Love2017 0]

17 hours ago, jessicashmessica said:

I had my medical last Tuesday. I wanted to give you guys a run-down of my experience, in case it helps.    

 

I went to Montreal, to Medisys, which is at a new location, and is now called Horizons, but I think they’re also keeping the name “Medisys” in their signage. Anyway, I live in Ottawa (a close drive of 2 hours or so) so I made the appointment early ie two weeks to the day before my interview. Before then, I went to my own doctor and got my flu shot and my MMR shot as well as the amalgamated list of my immunization history from him and from the city.

 

Medisys also asked for 5 (five) US size passport pictures so I went to Costco and got 16 lol. I figure I’ll need them before this process is over, and they’re super cheap there.  

 

Here’s the email Medisys sent me:  

 

“Dear customer,  Thank you for scheduling an appointment with Horizon Occupational Health Solutions. All details pertaining to the required preparation are indicated below. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact us at 1-800-361-3493.  

 

Followed by my name, the date, the time, and the location of the interview (Medisys Montréal 600, Blvd Maisonneuve Ouest 22e Étage Montreal, QC  H3A 3J2 1-514-845-1211) and the name of the doctor (Dr. Ilana Galperin) with the following:  

 

Reminder    

Our clinic name has changed to Horizon Occupational Health Solutions.    

 

Medical preparation    

Some exams that will be conducted during the visit require special preparation. Please take note of the following:  

-Bring your prescription glasses/lenses.  

-Bring valid photo ID.

 -Bring immunization booklet.  

-Bring your P4 documentation, i.e. embassy letter, date of interview and case number.  

-Valid passport and 5 passport size photos.

-Intended address in the U.S.A.  

-List of prescribed medication or letter from an MD Payment    

 

If applicable, we accept payment by cash, Interac and credit card (Visa, MasterCard and American Express).”    

 

So, as you know, we (CR1/IR1) don’t have a P4 document. The print-out of the email alerting me to my interview date with my case number on it was enough. I brought my glasses and my immunization records as well as my passport with the 5 extra photos. I don’t take any medications so I was fine on that front and, re intended address in the USA, I brought a copy of my husband’s lease agreement. I had a feeling it wasn’t needed (I was right: you simply fill it in a form) but, with this whole process, I’ve always erred on the ‘better safe than sorry’ side.    

 

OK, so, if you’re driving and you’re using Google Maps, it will lead you to the side of the building opposite where the underground parking is. As usual, Montreal is a cesspool of never-ending construction so you’ll have to go around a few streets to get to the underground parking entrance but it’s easy enough.    

 

I got there early. There’s a man inside the parking space who, if you ask him, will tell you the best place to park so that you’re near the right elevator. However, it was really full that day so the elevator I took up led me to a mall lol, next to a Dynamite. Hilariously, I was parked on P2 so the elevator had four buttons: P2, P1, lobby 1, lobby 2. HOWEVER, lobby 1 and 2 are the same floor/same place lmao. Very weird.

 

Anyway, so I got out at lobby 1 (which is also lobby 2–so weird!) and walked a bit towards an escalator (narrow; you’ll know it because you can’t pass anyone––it’s only as wide as one person), which I used to go up. I then crossed a kind of vestibule (you’ll feel the outside climate here; I think I took the elevator to a mall that connects to the KPMG building where Medisys operates) where there were two sets of elevators. One was for floors 1 to 19 and the other for 20 to 37. Medisys is on 22 so I obviously took the second one.    

 

I’d read previous reviews of the old Medisys location, which described it as crazy busy with barely any room to stand. This was not that. This new location is beautiful and clean and spacious. They also now have three floors, which I’m guessing helps lol. Anyway, I was early but they saw me right away. The receptionist took my passport, my letter, my pictures, and my immunization record from me. She stapled all 5 pictures together to some document, which I thought was interesting, since they had me bring the pics just to put staple holes in them. Anyway, I was handed some forms and I filled them out. Just your standard medical history. Some questions were kind of dumb, like asking about nearly extinct diseases or if I’ve ever felt so depressed I was murderous lol, but it was fine.    

 

Despite being a whole half-hour early, I was taken in to do my chest x-rays. Pregnant or not (I’m not), you have to do them or you won’t get your visa. It actually says that on their forms. I got a green gown and had to remove my necklace, bra, and shirt. I kept all bottoms on and my heels, and they gave me a room to change into the gown and back into my clothes, don’t worry. It’s very private. The tech undid my gown in the back. It was four quick deep breaths and that’s it. She gave me an orange piece of paper and asked me to place it in a pigeonhole/mail slot on the wall. I did. Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 5 minutes.  

 

About 10 minutes later, a nurse called me into a room. He took my blood pressure twice (which was high but lol as I found out later, that was because I was holding my pee (I’ll get back to this)), my weight, height, and then made me do a vision test. I had to do it without my glasses on then with them one. Kind of dumb but alright.  Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 7 minutes. 

 

About 20 minutes later, a different nurse called me into a different room. She took a blood sample, for syphilis testing lol, and blood pressure, which was still high. She handed me a cup to pee in, for gonorrhea testing, and I said, “oh thank goodness, I’ve been holding it since I left Ottawa” lol. She said that that was probably why my blood pressure was high. She instructed me to pee in the cup in the bathroom and was really insane about how I was not to go above the line she marked on the cup lol. It was kind of ridiculous how she kept saying “do not go above this line” and the line is actually quite low to bottom of the cup, so I had to pour some out into the toilet bowl lol sorry for the TMI. In the waiting room, by the doors, there’s a black window in the wall that you open and put your pee cup into. So, if you’re like me and you think it’s a bit gross to walk back into a waiting room full of people just casually holding a cup of your urine, use a paper towel from the bathroom to conceal it lol. After I dropped the cup off, I went back into the room where she did the blood sample. I have to say, I have traditionally very crappy veins and I told her as much, that she’d have a hard time, but she didn’t care and kind of stuck me willy nilly without so much as ensuring the vein was there. The vein WASN’T there so she ended up needing to a butterfly needle in my hand. I’m used to the butterfly needle and the phlebotomist not being able to find a vein plus I am not scared of needles but it WAS pretty unprofessional that she stuck me without properly finding a vein first so, if you’re scared of needles, just watch out lmao. (She actually told me she wanted to be the one exception re people having difficulty finding a vein. The way she wiggled the needle around inside my arm would have made someone else faint. Seriously: watch out lol.) She then took my blood pressure, which had normalized after I peed, so I was in the clear. I asked if I needed any new vaccines, and she said I had them all but the pneumococcal and meningococcal, which I’d only need if I was under 18. I saved myself $600 lol thank God. Then I went back to the waiting room. That was under 15 minutes, including going away to pee.

 

About 20 minutes later, the doctor called me in. She must be the busiest person on earth because she walked so fast I almost lost her lol. She sat me at her desk and went over my form answers, which was easy because I have no diseases or conditions so she was just verifying that I had meant to check ‘no’ on everything. I am anemic but barely. I occasionally take iron myself, which isn’t prescribed, but she wanted to know the kind and wrote the supplement name down. Weird, and overly careful, but I get it. She then asked me to take everything off but my bra and underwear and to change into a robe. She left the room while I did that and came back a few minutes later. She shone a light into my ears, eyes, nose, and throat. She asked me to breathe with a stethoscope on my back 3 times. She pressed my throat and stomach. She hit my knee with the reflex hammer. And then she asked me to get dressed, and left the room for me to do so. The whole thing took under 3 minutes.

 

Then I went back to the waiting room. The receptionist called me over. My packet would be ready in three days, unless my tests showed any problems, in which case they’d call me. I could either pick it up after three days up to the day before my interview, or have it mailed to me for $50. I opted to pick it up the day before my interview. I paid $475.63 and received a receipt. Before going, I was asked to sit by the receptionist desk where they have a webcam. They took a picture and I was free to go. They do not validate parking and the total for the 1-1.5 hours I was there was $17. There’s a McDonalds in the food court downstairs and I got a McChicken lol. Two days later, I got an email saying my packet is ready for pick-up.   Hope this helps!     

I had a similar experience but my doctor was a bit creepy he literally told him he had to feel my boobs I felt very uncomfortable about it. I wondered if this was protocol ? 

[Ontarkie 14,227]

1 hour ago, Love2017 said:

I had a similar experience but my doctor was a bit creepy he literally told him he had to feel my boobs I felt very uncomfortable about it. I wondered if this was protocol ? 

I think it really depends. i had my medical years ago, like 11 yrs ago and the nurse did a breast exam then. I didn't get all the reflex tests done that Jessica mentioned. So probably just who the doctor is and what they feel is a good medical. 

[dlmb 5]

Thank you for your review. I found it very helpful. I will also be doing the medical exam in Montreal as I live just outside of Cornwall. When did you initially start your K1 process?