My Medical Exam Experience - Auckland

[AwkwardDinosaur 13]

Hi there! So after attempting to find information on what the medical would be like and only finding examples from other countries, I decided to attempt to write my own guide in an attempt to share tips that may make things go more smoothly for others. 

Of course, everyone has different health needs and status, so things may go a little differently in each case; I have attempted to point out where things are standard and where they vary throughout the writing. Okay, let's begin!

 

First things first: booking the medical. I booked mine at CityMed in Auckland central. I made the mistake of phoning them first; they'll just tell you to fill out a form on their website, and they'll call you... So do that first! You can find the link here: http://www.citymed.co.nz/immigration-medicals/us-immigration then click on the 'register online' button. 

 

On the day of your appointment, show up fifteen minutes early. They will ask you to do this anyway, and will send a reminder text message to you the day before. You will need the following items to bring to your appointment:

 

Passport

Six passport photos (these can be NZ or US style)

Medical forms sent to you by Consulate (there should be four forms, plus the instruction/ cover sheet that has to be signed by the physician, lab test person and radiographer/x-ray tech)

Any immunisation (vaccination) records

Any documentation relating to health issues, such as medications you are on, dates and details of surgeries and hospitalisations etc. Don't worry if you don't have a lot of this stuff; I took in barely anything and it was fine. 

Glasses or contact lenses if you wear them

 

Before you go to your appointment, fill in the top parts of each medical sheet with your name, birthday, case number (this is the one you received from NVC that starts with the year). In 'document type' put passport and then put in your passport number. Give your forms and passport to the receptionist, and they will make a copy of your passport and give it back to you. They will also give you a laminated consent form that basically tells you if you lie your visa may be denied, or you may be deported from the US at a later date. 

Now the waiting begins! All of the services (doctor, nurse, blood lab, x-ray) are in the same building and fairly close to one another. Take a high-energy snack, because you're going to be here for around 4 hours. I don't know if you're actually allowed to eat in the clinic, but none of the blood tests are fasting (I checked early that morning) and so I snuck a few cookies in. I'm glad I did! 

 

There is a water cooler in the waiting room- make sure you are well hydrated for the blood test and urine test. I arrived super early for my appointment (appointment was at 2:15 and I got there at 1:45) but the nurse still took a while to see me; I didn't go in to see her until 2:40. They take you into a room and take your height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, do an eye test (the standard 'stand x metres away, cover one eye and read the letters then repeat with the other eye). Then they'll ask you to do a urine sample and hand you two containers and lab tubes marked '1' and '2'. The first is apparently for gonorrhea and syphilis testing, and the second is to test for proteins and sugars. You have to leave your belongings with the nurse, and go do your business, then knock on the nurses' station door and wait to hand them the tubes. They give your things back, along with a small tube of your urine that you have to carry around and you go sit down to wait for the doctor. 

 

I saw the doctor around 3pm, so I wasn't waiting overly long. Made some friends with a couple who were doing their immigration medical for a different type of visa. The doctor was very nice (It was Dr Donna Marshall) and I was in with her for about half an hour. Now, this is where things start to vary- I can only tell you my experience (minus some of the details, due to privacy) and you can expect some of the questions and tests to vary based on the information you give. 

 

The doctor asked me about my health history, such as had I ever been hospitalised overnight and what for, had I ever had surgery and what for, and did I have a list of vaccinations with me? I did, and she wrote the ones listed into her book, then asked me if I was willing to have the others. You must say yes to this, otherwise your visa will be declined unless you apply for (and meet the conditions for) a waiver. She then went through the medical forms with me, asking me questions about have I ever had this or that. You must answer truthfully! 

There was a little bit of sitting around quietly waiting for her to fill out forms.

 

Then the doctor will ask you to step behind a curtain and take all of your clothes off except your underwear. (Ladies, you can keep your bra on!) This means take socks and shoes off, too. Then you lie on your back on the bed and put the little blanket over you and tell the doctor you're ready. 

The doctor checked my hip movement, arms and legs, heart and breathing with a stethoscope, the blood flow at the corners of my pubis, my eyes by shining a light into them, my ears, my mouth and throat (normal stick on tongue, say ahhh kind of thing) and palpated my abdomen and stomach. The tests they perform may vary on you. Then she told me to put my clothes on.

I sat back down while she filled out some more of the forms, then she gave me some extra paperwork and told me to go to reception and pay, then wait for the nurse to give me vaccinations. 

 

I went to reception, gave them the form and paid. Mine came to about $600NZD, because I needed the tetanus shot and the flu vaccine. It broke down to $240 for the actual medical, $40 for the Tetanus and $30 for the flu vaccine, plus a $10 injection fee. $90 for X ray, $22 for standard VDRL test, $95 for the MMR serology test (not everyone will need to have this), $32 for the Varicella IGg test (chickenpox- again, if you can prove you've had this, you won't need a test), and $60 for a gonorrhea/ chlamydia test. 

 

I went back out to the waiting room, had a glass of water and waited for the nurse. The vaccines require you to sign a consent form saying you understand the potential risks (of having a rare allergic reaction to them) and explaining any common side effects. You have to wait in the clinic for 20 minutes for them to 'observe' you, but in that time you can go do your other things. I'd suggest go to X-ray first, because you have to wait to be seen, so tell the lady that you'll go do your blood tests and be back after that. Then go to the bloods lab. Take a number, scan it, then sit and wait until someone comes to get you. Hand them your passport and your stack of papers, then sit in the chair and let them do their thing. They will get you to check your personal details like name, date of birth and phone number, then you can go back to the x-ray place. 

 

X-ray is quick. You hand your passport and forms over to the receptionist, and then the x-ray tech will give you a gown to put on and show you into a little changing room next to the x-ray room. You put the gown on (Take jewellery off) and then they get you to stand up against the x-ray frame with your hands on your hips, shoulders forward. The tech will ask you to take in as big a breath as you can, and hold it for as long as you can. In reality, I only held mine for about ten seconds, then she said we were done. You go and get changed, and then wait a couple of minutes more for the tech to finish making the x-ray CD. You take that and add it to your pile of things. I managed to get the blood test and x-ray done in 40 minutes. 

 

They told me to wait for the doctor, and I did for a good hour and a bit... You DON'T actually need to do this, and the doctor was very confused when I was still sitting there at closing time!

So, that's it. Pretty quick and relatively painless (except for your wallet). Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or PM me, and I'll do my best to answer them

 

 

 

[DETROITKIWI 1]

Interesting read, Thank You :).....gives me indication on what to expect.  I have no records of vaccinations, Did you have this?

[Plumley042 26]

Very comprehensive AD. I'll let you know if my experience is any different on Monday.....

[AwkwardDinosaur 13]

15 hours ago, DETROITKIWI said:

Interesting read, Thank You :).....gives me indication on what to expect.  I have no records of vaccinations, Did you have this?

I had my plunket book where they'd written in some of them, yes. If your GP doesn't have records, that's OK, they might just do an extra blood test or two to figure out if you have antibodies for those things. 

[bird&bear 43]

Thank you so much! My partner and I are just starting our process now, so he won't need to do his exam for many months yet, but this is a fantastically detailed look at what to expect. Thanks for posting! ☺️

[Zoule 34]

On 9/17/2018 at 4:51 PM, AwkwardDinosaur said:

Hi there! So after attempting to find information on what the medical would be like and only finding examples from other countries, I decided to attempt to write my own guide in an attempt to share tips that may make things go more smoothly for others. 

Of course, everyone has different health needs and status, so things may go a little differently in each case; I have attempted to point out where things are standard and where they vary throughout the writing. Okay, let's begin!

 

First things first: booking the medical. I booked mine at CityMed in Auckland central. I made the mistake of phoning them first; they'll just tell you to fill out a form on their website, and they'll call you... So do that first! You can find the link here: http://www.citymed.co.nz/immigration-medicals/us-immigration then click on the 'register online' button. 

 

On the day of your appointment, show up fifteen minutes early. They will ask you to do this anyway, and will send a reminder text message to you the day before. You will need the following items to bring to your appointment:

 

Passport

Six passport photos (these can be NZ or US style)

Medical forms sent to you by Consulate (there should be four forms, plus the instruction/ cover sheet that has to be signed by the physician, lab test person and radiographer/x-ray tech)

Any immunisation (vaccination) records

Any documentation relating to health issues, such as medications you are on, dates and details of surgeries and hospitalisations etc. Don't worry if you don't have a lot of this stuff; I took in barely anything and it was fine. 

Glasses or contact lenses if you wear them

 

Before you go to your appointment, fill in the top parts of each medical sheet with your name, birthday, case number (this is the one you received from NVC that starts with the year). In 'document type' put passport and then put in your passport number. Give your forms and passport to the receptionist, and they will make a copy of your passport and give it back to you. They will also give you a laminated consent form that basically tells you if you lie your visa may be denied, or you may be deported from the US at a later date. 

Now the waiting begins! All of the services (doctor, nurse, blood lab, x-ray) are in the same building and fairly close to one another. Take a high-energy snack, because you're going to be here for around 4 hours. I don't know if you're actually allowed to eat in the clinic, but none of the blood tests are fasting (I checked early that morning) and so I snuck a few cookies in. I'm glad I did! 

 

There is a water cooler in the waiting room- make sure you are well hydrated for the blood test and urine test. I arrived super early for my appointment (appointment was at 2:15 and I got there at 1:45) but the nurse still took a while to see me; I didn't go in to see her until 2:40. They take you into a room and take your height, weight, blood pressure, pulse, temperature, do an eye test (the standard 'stand x metres away, cover one eye and read the letters then repeat with the other eye). Then they'll ask you to do a urine sample and hand you two containers and lab tubes marked '1' and '2'. The first is apparently for gonorrhea and syphilis testing, and the second is to test for proteins and sugars. You have to leave your belongings with the nurse, and go do your business, then knock on the nurses' station door and wait to hand them the tubes. They give your things back, along with a small tube of your urine that you have to carry around and you go sit down to wait for the doctor. 

 

I saw the doctor around 3pm, so I wasn't waiting overly long. Made some friends with a couple who were doing their immigration medical for a different type of visa. The doctor was very nice (It was Dr Donna Marshall) and I was in with her for about half an hour. Now, this is where things start to vary- I can only tell you my experience (minus some of the details, due to privacy) and you can expect some of the questions and tests to vary based on the information you give. 

 

The doctor asked me about my health history, such as had I ever been hospitalised overnight and what for, had I ever had surgery and what for, and did I have a list of vaccinations with me? I did, and she wrote the ones listed into her book, then asked me if I was willing to have the others. You must say yes to this, otherwise your visa will be declined unless you apply for (and meet the conditions for) a waiver. She then went through the medical forms with me, asking me questions about have I ever had this or that. You must answer truthfully! 

There was a little bit of sitting around quietly waiting for her to fill out forms.

 

Then the doctor will ask you to step behind a curtain and take all of your clothes off except your underwear. (Ladies, you can keep your bra on!) This means take socks and shoes off, too. Then you lie on your back on the bed and put the little blanket over you and tell the doctor you're ready. 

The doctor checked my hip movement, arms and legs, heart and breathing with a stethoscope, the blood flow at the corners of my pubis, my eyes by shining a light into them, my ears, my mouth and throat (normal stick on tongue, say ahhh kind of thing) and palpated my abdomen and stomach. The tests they perform may vary on you. Then she told me to put my clothes on.

I sat back down while she filled out some more of the forms, then she gave me some extra paperwork and told me to go to reception and pay, then wait for the nurse to give me vaccinations. 

 

I went to reception, gave them the form and paid. Mine came to about $600NZD, because I needed the tetanus shot and the flu vaccine. It broke down to $240 for the actual medical, $40 for the Tetanus and $30 for the flu vaccine, plus a $10 injection fee. $90 for X ray, $22 for standard VDRL test, $95 for the MMR serology test (not everyone will need to have this), $32 for the Varicella IGg test (chickenpox- again, if you can prove you've had this, you won't need a test), and $60 for a gonorrhea/ chlamydia test. 

 

I went back out to the waiting room, had a glass of water and waited for the nurse. The vaccines require you to sign a consent form saying you understand the potential risks (of having a rare allergic reaction to them) and explaining any common side effects. You have to wait in the clinic for 20 minutes for them to 'observe' you, but in that time you can go do your other things. I'd suggest go to X-ray first, because you have to wait to be seen, so tell the lady that you'll go do your blood tests and be back after that. Then go to the bloods lab. Take a number, scan it, then sit and wait until someone comes to get you. Hand them your passport and your stack of papers, then sit in the chair and let them do their thing. They will get you to check your personal details like name, date of birth and phone number, then you can go back to the x-ray place. 

 

X-ray is quick. You hand your passport and forms over to the receptionist, and then the x-ray tech will give you a gown to put on and show you into a little changing room next to the x-ray room. You put the gown on (Take jewellery off) and then they get you to stand up against the x-ray frame with your hands on your hips, shoulders forward. The tech will ask you to take in as big a breath as you can, and hold it for as long as you can. In reality, I only held mine for about ten seconds, then she said we were done. You go and get changed, and then wait a couple of minutes more for the tech to finish making the x-ray CD. You take that and add it to your pile of things. I managed to get the blood test and x-ray done in 40 minutes. 

 

They told me to wait for the doctor, and I did for a good hour and a bit... You DON'T actually need to do this, and the doctor was very confused when I was still sitting there at closing time!

So, that's it. Pretty quick and relatively painless (except for your wallet). Let me know in the comments if you have any questions, or PM me, and I'll do my best to answer them

 

 

 

How long before your interview did you need to schedule the medical 🙂

Edited October 2, 2018 by Zoule

[AwkwardDinosaur 13]

You need to schedule your medical about two weeks beforehand to be safe. My medical was on Monday the 17th and my interview was on the 27th. That was sufficient time.

 

just schedule as soon as you know your case is being sent from Nvc, and make it for a week out. You do need the forms from the consulate that they send out to you but chances are these will arrive in time. When the person on the phone at the doctors asks you if you have them, just say yes. You can always call the day before to reschedule the appointment if they're taking a bit longer to arrive. 

[Zoule 34]

thanks so much :-) 

[sherydenise 66]

Do you happen to have a list for the doctors we can book at? I know they'll send a list when the interview is scheduled, but I live in the middle of the North Island so was wondering if there was one closer to me thats not Auckland or Wellington. They used to have a list on their website I remember seeing one a couple of years ago, along with the medical form etc but that all seems to have disappeared lol

[AmericanLotus 6]

In case anyone else is digging this up like I am...Most of the medical exams are paperless now. CityMed has information about how the "e medicals" work: https://www.citymed.co.nz/services/usa-immigration-medicals 

 

Also, there are only providers in Auckland or Wellington. This on the consulate website, assuming it's still up-to-date. We live in Christchurch so my husband had to go to Auckland for the medical.

 

AUCKLAND

City Med
Ground Level, Quay West Building
8 Albert St, Auckland City, 1010
(09) 377-5525
Dr. Megan Corbett, Dr. Donna Marshall, Dr. Lidia Nowak, Dr. Lisa Searle
 

WELLINGTON

 

ANZUS Medical Assessments Ltd.
142 Lambton Quay, Level 16
Wellington Central, Wellington, 6011
Tel:  (04) 282-1180
Dr. David Hingston