Having toured hospitals and nursing schools with an accreditation inspector from the National League for Nursing, not many people who comment on the medical tourism industry have the background knowledge and experience of Neal R.Yerkes, a registered nurse. With his permission we publish his message for everybody considering plastic surgery abroad (links added by MediThai):
“I would highly recommend Thailand as a destination for medical tourism. As a registered nurse I toured a number of Thai hospitals over the past 5 years. The hospitals I toured are clean and safe. I went through an entire chemotherapy treatment cycle with a Thai friend who had developed lymphoma and observed first hand the quality of care. The physician who treated my friend had received part of his training at Vanderbuilt. Many of the physicians have at least a part of their education in the United States. While not well known here, the Thai medical education system is based on the US model. The King’s father, Prince Mahidol, made it his life’s work to build a modern healthcare system for Thailand. In the 1920s he earned his MD degree from Harvard University. During that period he convinced the Rockefeller Foundation to fund an American Medical education for a group of Thai men and women. These men and women became the nucleus of the Thai healthcare education system. Sadly, Prince Mahidol died in 1929 at the age of 37. But his vision for Thailand continued. Today many Thais continue to come to the US for medical education but unlike those of other nationalities they usually return to their home country. A Thai physican once told me, “our King taught us to care for one another. That is why I returned”.
As a destination Thailand is much more appealing than many medical tourism destinations. Last year for instance Bangkok was rated by the readers of travel magazine Conde Nast Traveller as the number one city in Asia.
As a final recommendation, read the US State Department’s Consular Information Sheet and the CIA World Factbook on the countries you are considering. Check out the comments on healthcare, crime and pollution. Most medical tourism operators do not have medical backgrounds. They are in the business to make money and will recommend you travel where they make the highest commission. That destination may not offer the level of cleanliness and safety you expect.”
