Are Cruise Ship Doctors Sub-par or is This an Annomoly?

[SRF]

it's doesn't say in the article columbia medical school

 

it says columbia trained...

 

So does that mean trained in the country of columbia

 

or

 

graduated from the ivy league columbia university

 

 

 

journalists today are rather stupid aren't they?

 

ftfy.

[Cruisercl]

Nonsense. Physicians educated in many countries OUS (Outside of the United States) including Canada, Australia, Western Europe, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Scandinavia, South Africa among others are equally well educated as those in the United States if not better.

 

Nonsense; I know many 'physicians' that work here in the US but are not allowed to practice or take care of patients because they were educated out of the US and therefore have no license. They all work in corporate America. In order to take care of patients in the US, they are required to take further education.

I know this because I worked at a large University where there were many 'physicians' from other countries getting more education and completing residencies to practice in the US.

I also have worked in corporate America with the out of the US educated physicians; they were not allowed to practice. :)

[gooch47]

I've unfortunately had experience with quite a few ship's doctors. Mostly for bad colds/bronchitis, a couple times with Noro and once with bacterial diarrhea.

 

I've received very adequate care from them all.

 

One thing I did notice, though, and it might explain some comments about incompetence. The terminology used and the names of the prescription meds provided were not what I was used to hearing. "Foreign" if you will.

[gooch47]

I should mention, though, my experience with a "doctor" on a Viking river cruise in China. He did not speak English and I'm pretty sure he was a traditional medicine doctor, not an MD.

 

Our tour guide sat with me while I was seeking treatment for a terrible rash I had on my arm. The skin was actually peeling off. The so-called doctor put a finger on both sides of his forehead and waggled them. The tour guide said he was saying it was a bug bite. And when my husband came down with Bell's Palsy for the second time in his life, this "doctor" had no idea what was wrong with him.

[capriccio]

I should mention, though, my experience with a "doctor" on a Viking river cruise in China. He did not speak English and I'm pretty sure he was a traditional medicine doctor, not an MD.

 

Our tour guide sat with me while I was seeking treatment for a terrible rash I had on my arm. The skin was actually peeling off. The so-called doctor put a finger on both sides of his forehead and waggled them. The tour guide said he was saying it was a bug bite. And when my husband came down with Bell's Palsy for the second time in his life, this "doctor" had no idea what was wrong with him.

 

We've done a number of river cruises in Europe and have never had a staff doctor on board. Given that we were in a port every day it was always explained that we were never far away from medical assistance. Was this an onboard doctor or a doctor recommended but not employed or contracted by Viking? I suspect the latter since you mentioned the tour guide accompanied you. If not, do you know if this Is this something Viking only does in China?

[gooch47]

The doctor was always on the boat. He even accompanied us on the tours.

 

I have no idea if this was the norm or not. Sorry.

[bob brown]

Our ships doctor who was at our table bought a nice wine for our entire table of ten each night he was there.

Pretty sure that the ship actually paid that tab, in behalf of the good doctor.;)

 

On NCL, if you are at Platinum Plus level, you can sign up upon embarkation for a chance at having "dinner with an officer".

They always pick up the tab for the wine served at dinner...:)

[molole]

My three best doctors were trained in China, Korea and India and then passed their board exams to practice in US. Interesting thing is 2 of them have told me they don’t think US education system does a good job training doctors.

 

So let’s not assume American and western doctors are universally admired.

[mnocket]

Did you mean 'anomaly'?

I sure did. Noticed my mistake, but you can't edit titles. :o

[capriccio]

The doctor was always on the boat. He even accompanied us on the tours.

 

I have no idea if this was the norm or not. Sorry.

 

Thanks for the reply! Hope you are fully recovered and your husband has not had any other Bell's Palsy attacks. Going through that on a cruise ship in a foreign country with a traditional medicine doctor must have been scary even suspecting that it was another Bell's Palsy attack.

 

My dad got Bell's Palsy in his early 60s and for the rest of his life had a crooked smile. A much younger colleague had an attack of Bell's Palsy at work and thought it was a stroke. While waiting for the ambulance I was able to calm her down telling her there was a good chance it was 'only' Bell's Palsy because it only affected one side of her face. Happily I was correct.

[Itchy&Scratchy]

And when my husband came down with Bell's Palsy for the second time in his life, this "doctor" had no idea what was wrong with him.

my dad came down with Bell's Palsy last year. We thought it was a stroke, because it sure looks like one. At the ER the doctor still ordered a CT scan, even though he said that symptomatically it looked like Bell's Palsy.

[gooch47]

The first time he got Bell's Palsy I was terrified. His mother suffered a series of strokes before she finally died of Parkinson's. I made him go to the ER and they diagnosed him. I believe they put him on an anti-viral drug usually used for Herpes. On the China trip I had some of the same type of drug that had been prescribed for me for cold sores. There was a nurse on board who suggested he take those to try to prevent permanent damage to the facial nerves.

 

Sorry for hijacking the thread.

[jlp20]

Our experience when our fourteen-year-old came down with pneumonia .

 

Just to point out, PNEUMONIA is a condition from the result of infection, bacteria or other cause. If she HAD NOT responded to treatment or gotten worse, medical staff would not risk her health away from any other medical support.