My Medical at IOM

[Slade&Natasha 7]

My husband's been the one posting on the forums until now, but I wanted to post and share my medical exam experience.

Upon arriving to the 'clerical' office at 8 30am with my 4 year old daughter, I was suddenly grateful I had asked my dad to come along as an extra hand. The place on 2ya Zvenigorodskaya Ulitsa wasn't very easy to locate as it was still rather dark and the medical centre door we were standing at was pointing us to another entrance, after scrambling for a short time, we finally got where we needed to be. It was.. not the most attractive office I had seen.

I was greeted by a friendly receptionist, a man in his mid 50s, and he was very helpful in explaining the forms I was about to fill in. There was a dozen people in front of us, a few of those were couples and one family. I was bummed at the idea of, for the most part being last in line not because I got there last, but because I hadn't asked who was last in queue in time (I was busy taking my daughter's jacket off and getting her settled in and explaining to my dad what I had brought to entertain her) and as more people arrived, we got bumped towards the end of the queue. I hurried to fill in my form, and was happy to see a second window opening as I was finishing up with it.

It wasn't long before it was my turn at the window and I nervously handed her all of my documents. She very nice when going over all of them and she explained everything very clearly and remained patient whilst I asked my questions. Then she sent me off to the cashier to pay, and told me to come right back, after that she handed me a black plastic bag and two large envelopes with my daughter's and my name on them. She gave me another address at Biblioteka Imeni Lenina metro.

Looking at the map and knowing the area we were in, I quickly concluded that in our particular case (cranky, under-rested 4 year old) we best take a taxi, but there's no reason why all of this can't be done by means of public transport either.

Getting to the actual clinic was also not the easiest task, they don't have any signs out, but the instructions given to me by the women were very clear so we found it right away. We handed in our pass (otherwise they don't let people in, oh and by the way, if you have anybody who's not also having their med. check accompanying you, make sure you get their name put onto the pass at the clerical office). They let us in and we slowly continued back outside and into another building. There is another medical centre located on the 1st floor, and we ventured there first, turns out that it's not the right one, all of this is clearly written on the paper with directions (it says second floor) but we were all super groggy and it took some trial and error at first. Also about the pass, they take it from you when you first enter, so when coming back for results, you need to hand in your passport and explain you were there that morning in order to get let in.

Upon arriving at the administration of the medical centre, I noticed there were a lot of familiar people there. I was confused about what to do with the envelopes, and we sat down too far away from the office and I didn't hear the call for newly arrived people to hand their envelopes in, so that slowed us down as we had to wait until they free up for me to slip the envelopes in - thus, upon arrival, one should take their jacket off, and just stand there, ready to hand over their stuff.

Even with these slip ups, I'd say things were moving very fast - even though a couple jumped right in front of me when the word 'next' was called , it was my turn but I was too far from the door and my 4 year old moves slowly.

After a brief chat with the women who collects the envelopes, she told me that I'd start with bloodwork and then have my xray done, then chat with a doctor and have vaccines given if need be and then I'd come back and see her.

I did all of the above, my 4 year was great - she was well behaved and my dad was a really big help, if you have a child who's under a certain age (I believe 15), they don't need x-rays nor bloodwork, thus whilst you're getting all of that done, having help watching younger kids is much needed, imo. Especially during the x-raying, which happens on the other side of the floor.

All of the staff were so polite and albeit I did get the feeling of being hurried along, I think I had been expecting something so much worse, that I was thrilled with what I got. She told me she didn't want any 'extra' information, I had been super quiet so I've got no idea as to why she said that, a word of warning, I suppose. Anyway, she took a quick look at me, and asked me if I knew that I had scoliosis, I said yes and she asked the cause and if it bothers me. All of the time I could see what she was typing at her computer so I wasn't fretting in the least bit. She did type in that I've got two piercings though I've got my ears pierced too, but she only mentioned my other ones. Instantly made me think that I ought to have taken 'em out but in reality I figured what's the big deal. She asked if they were done in sanitary conditions and how long ago.

Then my daughter came in, she took a quick look at her and we were sent off to get our vaccines.

In the procedure room, my daughter stood watching as the woman gave me one and then the other - not the most painless vaccination experience, but it was just fine. When it came to be my daughter's turn, she took it like a trooper and the woman was extra gentle and understanding. Once the woman finished, my daughter gave her a stern look and said 'the needles on those syringes are very sharp, be careful with them!', we laughed it off and were on our way.

I went back to the doctor and gave her back the forms I had been holding throughout the whole morning, going from one place to the other, she took them from me, wished me all the best and then I went back to the woman who collects the envelopes - she told me my results would be ready after 4, and I could pick them up between 4 and 6 30pm from the clinic or at the clerical office on 2ya Zvenigorodskaya tomorrow. It was between noon and 1pm when we left. Needless to say, at the strike of 4pm I was back there, and after a quick explanation of the contents of the envelopes, by 4:15pm I was out.

I'm a regular customer at AO Medicina and I was really bummed to hear that it was no longer on the list of panel physicians and very nervous to go to this IOM place, I'm very happy with the outcome and treatment and I think given how many people the staff deals with every day, they were very polite - at least to me and my kid, I heard plenty of complaints in the corridors, but I don't see the reason why, I think as long as you're not arrogant and/or claim you know better, as well as remain neutral and polite, you're going to get treated pretty well.

Woot, so that's the medical out of the way.

[visaveteran1 33]

My husband's been the one posting on the forums until now, but I wanted to post and share my medical exam experience.

Where did you learn your perfect English?

Edited February 1, 2012 by visaveteran1

[Slade&Natasha 7]

Where did you learn your perfect English?

Hah, I can't wait to show him this and gloat!

Thanks! Albeit my English is not quite perfect, it's definitely as proficient as I'm likely to get. I grew up abroad and my passport speaks very little about who I am, it's just a bundle of paper really, I grew up in the very heart of Europe and have travelled as well as lived in many places. It was pure coincidence that I'm back in Moscow, but ironically, that's where I met my husband, so it wasn't a complete loss coming back here, clearly!

[shaka 11]

Congrats on medical being done!

Why did you choose this one over the other they have in Moscow?I mean clinic...Any specific reason?

Also,what kind of vaccine you got?

Did you have to show the interview letter?Just wondering if I can get the medical done before the interview date is set...

Did you bring all the medical records.I have nothing but records from school,as I lived overseas and they have no record of me going to the doctors here

Thanks!

And wishing you good luck at the interview!Do not forget to update us !

[visaveteran1 33]

Hah, I can't wait to show him this and gloat!

Thanks! Albeit my English is not quite perfect, it's definitely as proficient as I'm likely to get. I grew up abroad and my passport speaks very little about who I am, it's just a bundle of paper really, I grew up in the very heart of Europe and have travelled as well as lived in many places. It was pure coincidence that I'm back in Moscow, but ironically, that's where I met my husband, so it wasn't a complete loss coming back here, clearly!

Thanks for the explanation. Now I get it...and your English is excellent. English skills are invaluable in adapting to life in the US. And being a world traveler will be a big plus as well.

Good luck.

[Slade&Natasha 7]

Congrats on medical being done!

Why did you choose this one over the other they have in Moscow?I mean clinic...Any specific reason?

Also,what kind of vaccine you got?

Did you have to show the interview letter?Just wondering if I can get the medical done before the interview date is set...

Did you bring all the medical records.I have nothing but records from school,as I lived overseas and they have no record of me going to the doctors here

Thanks!

And wishing you good luck at the interview!Do not forget to update us !

I lived abroad as a kid too, and I had some dodgy cardboard paper cards with unintelligible writing on them, but somehow the doctor figured it out. And yeah, I did bring all of the vaccination records I had left. If you haven't got those, I presume you'll have to get a bunch done of the spot -- word of warning, they're really pricey at IOM so if you believe you need several done, I recommend getting them done elsewhere with proper documentation of them being administered that you'll show at the med. exam later.

I got my tetanus shot as the last time I had it was over 10 years ago and each adult needs it once every 10 years, and also a flu shot - the US embassy requires people to have flu shots done starting some time in fall and up until March 31st.

Thank you! I'll be sure to update about the interview

Edited February 1, 2012 by Slade&Natasha

[Slade&Natasha 7]

Thanks for the explanation. Now I get it...and your English is excellent. English skills are invaluable in adapting to life in the US. And being a world traveler will be a big plus as well.

Good luck.

Thanks! I like the US, I've seen a lot of it in several trips. Though everything thus far has been going well, I'm looking forward to all of this being over with so things can finally fall into place.

[ONA 133]

Thank you for sharing your experience! I'm sure it will be helpful for some VJ users.

I had my medical in IOM a little over half a year ago and it was also very easy and smooth.

[slim 1,530]

Yeah, thanks for sharing. I'm sure this will be very helpful for those going through the process soon.

[james&olya 1,121]

Did you have to show the interview letter?Just wondering if I can get the medical done before the interview date is set...

We did exactly that and it was no problem at all. The one possible downside is that if your AOS interview does not get scheduled within 1 year of the date of your exam you will need to repeat it here. We were lucky in getting our AOS interview on Jan 25, the exams were done the year before on Feb 1!

[Slade&Natasha 7]

I didn't have to show my appointment or any sort of letter at any point though I brought a printout - I didn't even have my international passport with me, just a photocopy (it was at another embassy, I was having a visa issued). Anyway, I had called in advance to ask if I could have the medical scheduled regardless, and I was told not to forget my internal passport and that everything would be just fine.

Which is basically what I did, the woman at the first office, the clerical one looked at my internal passport and my daughter's travel passport, as well as a photocopy of my travel passport, she only glanced at it to make sure she had spelled the name correctly in English.