Customer Reviews

The Medical Tourism Travel Guide: Your Complete Reference to Top-Quality, Low-Cost Dental, Cosmetic, Medical Care & Surgery Overseas

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Entertaining commentary on a dazzling array of countries. The author's research ranges from first hand experiences of some organizations, to irresponsibly superficial web surfs for others. Do NOT use this book if your destination is Argentina or Brazil. Research online patient message boards instead. The "medical tourism company" this book suggests for Argentina has in real life achieved a tabloid level of infamy. Argentine publicity is finally exposing its years of such practices as refusing to deliver pre-paid services once patients arrive in Argentina, or switching the surgeon for an assistant once the patient's under anaesthesia. Once every Argentine surgeon caught on and refused to work with them any more, the company's solution was to continue advertising the surgeons' services without their consent, collect payments from overseas patients before their journeys, put patients under anaethesia, and wake them later to lie that they had undergone surgery that was never performed.

Health care in the United States can be one of the most expensive things one has to purchase. "The Medical Tourism Travel Guide" is a complete and comprehensive handbook for anyone considering foreign health providers for major medical, dental, or cosmetic needs that may be unaffordable in the United States. A straight up honest guide about the pros, cons, risks and costs that one will most likely face when considering international health care options, "The Medical Tourism Travel Guide" is a seminal resource for a touchy subject. An absolute must-have for any American contemplating foreign health care.

I bought this book because I needed all my teeth crowned and a couple of implants. The book does provide valid information. The pricing of having all your teeth re-done is not too far off from what I would pay in Montreal Canada. In any case, the book puts things in perspective. I subsequently discovered that very few dentist really know what they are doing and very few are really capable of re-doing a whole mouth ! Doing the work overseas means getting the dental work fast ! For dental work, you would need a long vacation, as the dentist should first make a complete overlay in your mouth to see if you are comfortable for 2 weeks or so and can still pronounce vowels without feeling you have marbles in your mouth ! Look for a dentist with a cupboard full of dental work of mouth reconstruction ! In any case I found a local Montreal dentist at $1,000. a crown while some where at $1,500 to $2,000 a crown. I found this dentist by referrals from others such as the endo dentist(root canal specialist) or a gum specialist who sees a lot of work from different dentist. Dentist who teach , I generally found them to be almost worse...Having it done locally has the advantage to sort of following a more normal pace along with my cash flow... Note that some will offer an implant in one day in these far away places...- I prefer the old way: waiting 4 to 6 months before the crown, as its seems to do a better job. But each situation is different. Also, will I have to travel back to the clinic if I have a problem? Will they use the same methodology and materials as where I live? Or will the local dentist at home nix the overseas work for repairs and maintenance ?
Back to the book: its worth reading and part of your homework to make up your mind how to proceed...

Imagine a limo picks you up and whisks you to a top hospital with top physicians. You stay in a beautiful suite with superb food and courteous attentive staff. The doctor spends time with you explaining the procedure and gives you his phone number and cell phone number. Sounds like treatment only the super rich get? Not necessarily. Dozens of countries are offering top medical treatments with top notch doctors and plush amenities for a fraction of what it costs in the US.

Americans are just discovering that they can get major dental work, cosmetic surgery, hip replacements and other surgeries and treatments while taking a vacation in countries like Thailand, Singapore, Panama, India, and Malaysia. And it often costs less for the treatment and vacation than they it would cost for the treatment alone in the US. Millions of people in other countries take medical tourism trips and vacations.

The expert on medical tourism is Dr. Paul Gahlinger, author of The Medical Tourism Travel Guide. Before he became an MD, Dr. Gahlinger had a Ph.D. in medical anthropology and a Masters degree in Public Health. He has worked in dozens of countries, traveled in 120 countries. He worked as a physician in Antarctica and was a biostronautical consultant to NASA. Dr. Gahlinger predicts that medical tourism will be common in the US in five years and revolutionize medical care in the US.

Medical tourism makes the most sense for procedures that aren't covered by insurance. Eventually, insurance companies (if they don't become extinct through Obamacare) will probably cover medical tourism for covered benefits that are less expensive abroad. His book is a definitive guide to the dos and don'ts and lists hundreds of facilities and procedures by country and cross referenced by procedure.

You can stream or download my (free) 50-minute podcast interview with Dr.Gahlinger at []

~Anti-Aging Psychologist Dr. Michael Brickey, []

Full of information in regards to Medical Tourism perspective. Quite easy to understand the way it works. Some part contributed me an innovative idea. Thank you Dr.Paul Gahlinger,and of course, Amazon.com, my library & my trustworthy postman!!