1.2: a detour into the Chilean healthcare system

The plan was for us to start at the CE's on Tuesday the 9th, and all the Duke students but I did so. On my end, as might be expected, the combination of a) a trifling throat ailment that I ignored back in the States, b) the physical stress of travel, and c) Santiago air (i.e. cold and smoggy, any breather's worst nightmare) resulted in the throat ailment stepping up its game. Monday night, Jesús checked my temperature, and realizing I had a fever, we headed over to Clinica Los Condes. After perhaps 1.5 hours wait (to be expected in winter and at the late hour we arrived), I was seen by a doctor in a visit that I would claim comparable to or better than what I would have expected in the States. Over the following week, I had to stay home, both to recover and to prevent the spread of illness.

There's a few specific things that I appreciated about the health system, most of which center around the existence of protocol and strict adherence to it:

1. Everyone in the waiting room was given a mask, especially those that were sick. Maybe this was a swine-flu-inspired precaution, but I still appreciated it.


2. When you first stepped in, there were color-coded lines along the floor leading to major areas of the hospital (Urgent Care, Reception, etc.). This was far more intuitive and helpful than traditional hospital signage can ever hope to be.


3. Beyond being at home, when I was outside of my room I had to wear a mask, and others that came near me also needed to wear one. This only was until the second round of the influenza test (48 hour incubation period) came back negative. More than just protect against the spread of infection, this also helped keep me mindful of other precautions I needed to be taking, like washing my hands frequently.


4. Temperature is checked strictly in the armpit, not under the tongue. Less messy, more hygienic, comparable accuracy, and I learned the art of shaking down the mercury in a thermometer to reset it.

But there were a few dislikes, though more minor, as well:

1. You pay with cash/credit at the time of service. Then you deal with the insurance company later. Sure, this protects the hospital financially and can reduce moral hazard, but ouch if you forgot to bring a credit card/drain your checking account first. (Moral hazard is overconsumption of medical services caused by having insurance and thus not paying for the true price of the service directly)


2. Pharmacists do not dispense bottles of pills specific for each patient; rather, they sell pre-packaged boxes with fixed quantities of pills. Tough luck if you need 7 $20 pills and they come in boxes of 6.

Thanks to everyone's well-wishes, the committed efforts by my host parents to accommodate my sudden medical and dietary needs, and other factors, I was able to recover fully by Saturday and return to work Monday the 15th. On the whole, I don't feel I missed a ton, I'm just glad to be done with it at the beginning.

For AE, I was able to work from home and create a sample profile on blogspot that could serve as a template for the microenterprise web profiles. I was able to mix together media (images, Google maps, video), HTML, and some things I had learned about Chile in the process. You can email me if you want to see it, but it's written in Spanish and you'll need an eye for humor to appreciate it.

The main Chilean event I missed was Chile's rout of Bolivia in the World Cup qualifiers (4-0); the Duke students went to see it at the Estadio Nacional while I caught all the instant replays on TV. The game was great to watch, especially the first goal (a header), and the fourth/final goal, in which Chilean Alexi Sanchez lobbed the ball over the approaching goalie's head with the instep of his foot, which bounced before spinning into the goal. For a better perspective on what it was to be there live, see Jordan's post "Fútbol and National Pride", and Grant's post "Vamos vamos chilenos".