Sick in the City

When you're living abroad in an exciting new city for a limited period of time, it's really a bit like the honeymoon period in a relationship: rose tinted, romantic and not exactly a study in realism. Therefore, I believe it's always important to try to experience a new city not as a tourist but as a true resident would. I like to think that this is what I did this week. I experienced what happens when you get really sick and need to see a doctor, fast.

While it was certainly not a pleasant experience (and initially made me feel like I had wasted 5 days of my life) I realised that I learned what the city had to offer me in a time of crisis.

Initially I thought it was just regular old food poisoning and that I would have done my time in 36 hours, 48 at the most. When day 3 rolled around and I felt I was getting worse, I freaked out and looked for a doctor online. Zocdoc, the amazing online booking system I found, was great - it listed available doctors in my area and highlighted which ones took my type of insurance, their specialty and all their available times for the next few days. I could even review their resumes, or look at their picture to see which face I found most appealing, or knowledgeable! (Only in the US would you have this much information with which to make your choice!) Once you've made your choice, you can then click in to make your appointment. When I had issues with the website and called the 1800 number for help, a lovely young man named Matt tried to assist me, and when he couldn't, he SENT ME AN AMAZON COUPON for my troubles! God, I love customer service in America!

Eventually I got an appointment at Beth Israel two blocks from work. Just hearing the name Beth Israel  made me feel better. (For Aussies, Beth Isreal is a major hospital network with a very strong brand in NY).  I had chosen a professional looking general practitioner who was female and young. The appointment was pretty generic - lots of paperwork, doctor decor, super sterile clinical rooms and the doctor was 15 mins late as per normal. However, she had an air of efficient knowledge, and diagnosed me with absolute confidence. She even provided me with other useful life tips, before sending me out the door in just over 5 mins. I was impressed with her speed, but she was so quick it actually made me suspicious that she'd diagnosed me correctly.

When I wasn't getting better 24 hours later, I came across a little office in the East Village advertising "Dr. Dave", a man brave enough to actually post his cell phone number on his office door. In a panic, I texted him. We had a few back and forths, me frantically describing my symptoms and asking if I had Helicobacter Pylori (a bacteria from hell), and him calmly reminding me I needed to make a real appointment. What impressed me was that he actually responded to my text. What impressed me even more the next day when I showed up for my appointment was that he is obviously a doctor with a difference.

Turns out "Dr. Dave" is something of an institution in New York. Numerous articles have been written about him and he has been featured on CNN:

Sporting colourful tattoos up both arms and the mannerisms of a 21 year old, Dr. Dave runs a tiny office right around the corner from my apartment on Ave B. The population of people patiently hanging out in his waiting room indicates that he treats mostly immigrants, bootstrappers, and everyone else with little cash. Dr. Dave is most well known for his gig running a health co-op for food workers in the restaurant industry. He has been known to provide health advice from the bar and do house (restaurant) calls in the middle of the night when people cut themselves. As I sat waiting to see him, he treated a young guy seemingly for free. I seemed to have stumbled upon an honest to god community doctor, in the 21st century, in my neighbourhood.

In the end, Dr Dave confirmed that the doctor at Beth Israel had gotten the diagnosis right and it was just taking me longer to get better than I thought. However, he added another medicine to my list, as well as prescribing me Gatorade(!), which I actually think made all the difference in how quickly I got better.

Having had experiences on both ends of the spectrum, it is a nice feeling to know that I have choices, depending on what I need.  I could go with surgical efficiency, a brand name guarantee and mid town locale, or go the community style, slightly zany but discount route. At this point, I think I prefer the latter. It's hard to explain why I felt more comforted by Dr. Dave than my uber efficient Beth Israel practitioner. Perhaps it's because he takes care of the whole process, start to finish - from appointment booking (and texting, if you need that) through diagnosis to payment and followup. He seems to charge you what he thinks you can pay for, and humour never hurts when you're not feeling well. He made me laugh. Whilst Beth Israel is great, there is no substitute for a local experience that makes you feel like there is someone watching out for your community. Oh, and by the way, my follow up appointment with him is free. =)