We have already had our share of "medical emergencies" that I won't go into because God is good and he is directing us to wonderful, caring, capable Doctors.  We have seen three seperate Doctors in the last three months and I thought it might be interesting for ya'll to hear of the differences between French and American Doctors and medical practice.

First and foremost, it is quite difficult finding specialists that speak English. 

Second, once you do have your appointment, which is generally 3 to 5 weeks "down the road", you might have trouble locating said Doctor.  Offices are not in large medical buildings with proper signage directing you to their office building.  No, they are housed in apartment buildings.  They generally forget to tell you the code to enter the building so you must wait until someone exits and sneak in real "quick like".  You will then stand behind another locked door, searching the apartment residents for the name of your Doctor, you will push the button and they will buzz you in (without telling you what floor the Doctor is on).  Next, be prepared to climb up each flight of stairs searching for the Doctors name on the apartment doors.  Once you find it, the door will be locked and you will need to buzz once again to be let in.  


The Doctor will meet you at the door.  You will not see a front desk, or a nurse in uniform.  The walls are not painted with murals of animals and fairies; there are no aquariums to keep your little darling amused.  The Doctor will direct you to a living room with a couple of couches and books and you will wait.  You will not have to wait nearly as long as in the states. 

Once the Doctor is ready for you he/she will ask you to come into their office.  Their "office" is a desk in a large room with an examining table on the opposite side.  Be prepared to sit down with your child and have the Doctor inquire of your reason for visiting; they will ask many questions, they will speak to the child directly, (not in a cutesy voice but very seriously).   They will tell your child to take off their clothes off, and continue to question the parent.

Once the Doctor feels they have all the information necessary, the child will be directed to a small table to be examined.  The Doctor will not feel the childs belly and say "I can feel waffles, did you have them for breakfast?" or look in their ears and tell them "they can see spiderman".  Everything is quite serious.  They will perform what seems like odd exercises with the child; old school Doctoring. 

Once the battery of tests is performed, they will give you their honest assessment and opinion.  They will direct you to specialists to be certain that their diagnosis is correct.

Upon leaving, there are no stickers and lollipops dispensed.  Just a "au revoir" and a smile. 

All in all, I have been extremely pleased with the care that has been given to us.  The care is different in appearance but all the same and in some cases better than what I have found in the United States. 

Please rest assured that we are all very healthy and it looks like we will all remain that way.   Although the Doctors have been lovely, let's pray we won't have to spend anymore time locating their offices and spending hours with them.