Victim of The Japanese Medical System

[msdavid]

Hello Fellow Gaijins,

I have been leaving in Japan for almost 14 years. I have been victim since 1996 of the Japanese Medical System and have accepted as it is and surrendered. However, now my kids are falling in the same misfortune and I can not afford to just seat and see them sick all the time.
I am looking for an international clinic with foreign doctors and foreign medicine, the type of doctor who spent at least 20 min with you and follow up with an investigation of your case, then seek resolution for your particular problem.

Not the typical Japanese one that makes you wait for 2hs to see you for 2 min, show no interest in your case, then give you 5 different king of pills and ask you to come 3 days later to give you the same thing over and over again with out any results.

I believed that my constantly running nose was a chronic illness for more than 10 years until by pure accident I had a Canadian doctor see me in China and next thing I know, a week later I was almost cured.

Now, I can not seat a see my kids suffer the same way, I refuse to believe that my daughter have to take medicine for life and see a doctor every 2 or 3 weeks, yet her problem is never gone.

Would you please recommend a clinic in Tokyo that meet the "NON-JAPANESE" characteristics and helps me and my kids have a more pleasant life while in Tokyo?

[gomichild]

Like any country you need to do shopping around to find a good doctor. I've been lucky here in regards to this - I had an excellent care at the thyroid clinic in Omotesando, a very experienced Japanese obstetrician and my local Japanese GP is very good and explains everything well and likes to do blood tests to back up as well as have all my info in a database.

Where things get hard is having the means to find a good doctor, especially if you aren't for example very fluent in Japanese. A decent standby is the Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic near Tokyo Tower http://www.tmsc.jp/, where the doctors are usually foreign or are Japanese and practiced overseas.

The downsides though are there is usually a wait and it can be expensive. They don't accept National Health insurance so you need to follow up with any private insurance you have.

[Greji]

Would you please recommend a clinic in Tokyo that meet the "NON-JAPANESE" characteristics and helps me and my kids have a more pleasant life while in Tokyo?

I've not had the same sort of bad experiences with J-medicine and it could well be the hospital(s) where you are being seen, or maybe not enough Nihongo?

If you find that you cannot handle them, the International Clinic on the corner across from Tokyo Tower behind the Tokyo Prince Hotel is not to shabby. However, they do not take most types of insurance, so they can get a bit pricey. There is another FG Doctor straight up that same street on the corner of Katayama intersection (below the Shuto) as you go up to Roppongi and next door to the DNC building. He does have J-Docs on his staff, but is very good. Quite famous among FGs and elite JNs for certain "discreet" treatments, but I don't know about kids.

A lot of Embassies and families do use the International Clinic. There are of course others, but in downtown Tokyo, these are two of the more famous.
HTH...

[james]

[gomichild]

Like any country you need to do shopping around to find a good doctor. I've been lucky here in regards to this - I had an excellent care at the thyroid clinic in Omotesando, a very experienced Japanese obstetrician and my local Japanese GP is very good and explains everything well and likes to do blood tests to back up as well as have all my info in a database.

Where things get hard is having the means to find a good doctor, especially if you aren't for example very fluent in Japanese. A decent standby is the Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic near Tokyo Tower http://www.tmsc.jp/, where the doctors are usually foreign or are Japanese and practiced overseas.

The downsides though are there is usually a wait and it can be expensive. They don't accept National Health insurance so you need to follow up with any private insurance you have.

[Mike Oxlong]

In the US/Canadian tradition of med school, students get one or two lecture hours on nutrition. That's it. 2-4 years in pre-med, four years in med school, and several more as residents. Good to hear you took responsibiltiy for your own health (as any self-respecting Canuckistani would do!)...

[Greji]

A decent standby is the Tokyo Medical and Surgical Clinic near Tokyo Tower http://www.tmsc.jp/, where the doctors are usually foreign or are Japanese and practiced overseas.

Thanks for that GC. That is the Tokyo Tower International Clinic that I was referring and had the name wrong...

[james]

Good to hear you took responsibiltiy for your own health (as any self-respecting Canuckistani would do!)...

thanks! as difficult as this diet is at times, i'm definitely feeling better and can now eat small portions of genmai again. not going anywhere near sugar and refined carbs like white bread for awhile yet though and will definitely limit their intake after i finish.

i'll be making a trek out from inaka this weekend. does anyone know a place in osaka to get sugar-free whole wheat breads?

[taisaku]

Have you tried the St. Luke's hospital? They do take the Japanese National Health Insurance card and I've heard that most doctors speak English (in case your Japanese is not sufficient). There is one disadvantage: in case you don't have a referral letter from your GP you need to pay an initial fee of a few thousand Yen.
http://www.luke.or.jp/eng/index.html

[Samurai_Jerk]

The Tokyo Midtown Clinic has English speaking doctors and takes National Health Insurance.

http://www.tokyomidtown-mc.jp/en/


msdavid is correct that medicine in Japan leaves much to be desired. If people say differently, they've either been lucky so far or come from a third-world shithole.

[Coligny]

The Tokyo Midtown Clinic has English speaking doctors and takes National Health Insurance.

http://www.tokyomidtown-mc.jp/en/


msdavid is correct that medicine in Japan leaves much to be desired. If people say differently, they've either been lucky so far or come from a third-world shithole.

My contribution might not be of great help... But, Korean doctors and hospitals are top notch... My uyoku-ish ob-gyn of a wife was obliged to STFU when we compared furst class treatment I had in Korea (1) and the followup back in japan that was closer to a bad frat-joke than medicine. She even had to admit that she would largely work with Korean nurse (mee too...) than the highschool musical parody she have to deal with at work. But on a side note... while she can shout loud enough to scare a ward of j-nurses into a waterfall of tears (yeah, dun worry, I also have a movie idea aboot this topic) I don't think she could win against K-nurse. We saw an argument between a cute ER doctoress and a K-nurse. Even if I was vomiting and shitting myself non stop I could not prevent a boner... Just missing was a mud-pool... that would have been the nicest thing to enjoy before dying...

(1) since I was in a tour group with severe food poisonning I had to see at least 3 different doctors and hospitals, from remote craphole to Seoul. And they were all equally impressive.

[Samurai_Jerk]

My contribution might not be of great help... But, Korean doctors and hospitals are top notch... My uyoku-ish ob-gyn of a wife was obliged to STFU when we compared furst class treatment I had in Korea (1) and the followup back in japan that was closer to a bad frat-joke than medicine. She even had to admit that she would largely work with Korean nurse (mee too...) than the highschool musical parody she have to deal with at work. But on a side note... while she can shout loud enough to scare a ward of j-nurses into a waterfall of tears (yeah, dun worry, I also have a movie idea aboot this topic) I don't think she could win against K-nurse. We saw an argument between a cute ER doctoress and a K-nurse. Even if I was vomiting and shitting myself non stop I could not prevent a boner... Just missing was a mud-pool... that would have been the nicest thing to enjoy before dying...

(1) since I was in a tour group with severe food poisonning I had to see at least 3 different doctors and hospitals, from remote craphole to Seoul. And they were all equally impressive.

Japan. Third-world medicine at first-world prices.

[maraboutslim]

many places around the world really need better health care. but japan, where people live way too long already, is not one of them.

[yabanjames]

Can't recommend Dr. Joe Kurosu at Primary Care Tokyo highly enough. He graduated from Stanford, is licensed both here and in the US, native English speaker but with one Japanese parent and utterly fluent in Japanese as well, and runs his clinic (in Shimokitazawa) like a modern Western clinic. And, he takes Japanese health insurance.

http://www.pctclinic.com/engindex.html

[Coligny]

many places around the world really need better health care. but japan, where people live way too long already, is not one of them.

Old fart living longer are helped by their way of life more than their healthcare (methink)...

Japanese HC is full of clueless doctors who even when working in research don't speak english...
They don't give a flying fark aboot their patients, lie, and focus only on the disease especially if they see opportunity to write a paper aboot it even often showing exitation aboot the topic in the most vulgar way.

Most of the new ones just bought their diplomas. And with the lack of pupils you can be sure that nearly all the futures ones will graduate becuase of their name or bank account, or just because they were there...

[hagoromoryuu]

It's a bit far away from you, but I HIGHLY recommend Dr. Schlemper at the International Clinic in Fukuoka: http://www.internationalclinic.org/

He is REALLY good and has fixed both me and my Japanese girlfriend's problems when other doctors have made it worse. He is Dutch and speaks 6 languages! He knows about and prescribes much more modern medicines than other doctors and is in a constant state of dismay with Japanese doctors.

Consultation lasts as long as you need to go over the issues and for him to examine you and get a history. He has spent 30+ minutes with me as well as when my girlfriend has gone to see him. He's also written letters for my girlfriend to take to a more local clinic to get refills of medications rather than having to travel the whole way back to his office.

I can't recommend this man enough.

[hairygateau]

a country's doctors are like their political leaders - the country gets the doctors it deserves. the average nihonjin is happy to go along with 5x antibiotics etc for any minor ailment, and believe any old witch-doctoring (hello hot bath as a cure to most stomach illnesses) that the doc tells em.

i second the recommendation for st. lukes and the tokyo tower clinic. i was not impressed with the john hopkins at mid-town.