Medical Exam Review - Dr Cheema (Canada)

[HF & HB 6]

Hi everyone, 

 

I have recently completed my medical exam in Surrey, BC with Dr Cheema and I wanted to provide a review of my experience for all the applicants that may be curious as to how it went.

 

My experience at Dr. Cheema's office was very positive! The time it took being there was a little over a hour (15 min waiting after TDap shot). The ladies at the front desk were polite and helpful. Make sure to double check the info on the forms they give you with your personal info since my birthday and email had been incorrectly entered, but they kindly corrected it. After I was called inside, I was weighed, my height taken and then Dr. Cheema asked me some medical history questions. The questions were standard health questions, no surprises. Since I have always been in good health there was nothing of particular medical concern. I had all of my vaccines in order ( MMR 2 doses and TDap at birth and second dose later on) but I requested another TDap (paid $45) since I wanted a booster which is recommended once every 10 years. Just to clarify though, they told me this booster was not specifically needed for the K-1 requirements but I thought it might be helpful to have an up-to-date vaccine record for the AOS and for my peace of mind. The price was also good compared to travel clinics in my area. After the questions, he checked my blood pressure, lungs, eyes and vision test (bring contacts or glasses!), ears and he pressed on my abdomen, basically the kind of standard medical exam I have also had in the past. I was very glad that it was not more invasive and that I didn't have to change/undress, and also that he was very polite and put me at ease. I had read on here other reviews which pointed out that as long as the applicant doesn't have any major medical concerns the medical exam is fast and easy. Can't stress enough how thankful I am for other medical exam reviews on this website since it gave me a lot of peace of mind going into my appointment. 

 

After leaving Dr. Cheema's office I followed the instructions given by the ladies at reception to go to LifeLabs nearby for the bloodwork and to another building for the chest x-ray. The building for Lifelabs had sufficient parking and the process there was pretty fast, probably less than 20 min.

 

Afterwards I went to the Medical Imagery Clinic. Although it is like a 1 min drive away from the lab the location/parking I found to be awkward and kinda tricky. I spent a lot of time trying to find the right entrance and parking. The address seemed to direct me to its old location whereas the clinic is in the building next door (instructions written on a paper on the door of the old location). Parking is available at the back of the new building, but when I was there it was all taken. I had to find street parking but some of the streets appeared to only allow residents to park. Thankfully I found parking on 82nd street. In total the chest x-ray took about 45 min since the place was packed. Apart from the parking situation everything else went smoothly.

 

Thanks!

 

Side note - for anyone interested, there is a great thrift store in the area called Talize (highly recommend it) and also a small one called Penny Savers  

[NikLR 13,220]

~~moved to Canada regional forum from K1 progress reports ~~

[don_mar 18]

Thanks for the detailed review! Can't you get the TDap for free at a regular clinic or your family doctor's?

[HF & HB 6]

Hi don_mar,

As far I can tell in BC Tdap immunization is only free for children/high school students but not for adults. I didn't get this info from my family doctor but rather a nurse at the local immunization clinic and from online. Definitely worth asking tho if someone is living elsewhere in Canada.

 

 

[NikLR 13,220]

12 hours ago, don_mar said:

Thanks for the detailed review! Can't you get the TDap for free at a regular clinic or your family doctor's?

Depends on how old you are and if you recieved one or two as a child.  Also you can do titre tests and see if you need the vaccine. 

[IndigoFlowers 130]

On 6/19/2019 at 12:16 PM, don_mar said:

Thanks for the detailed review! Can't you get the TDap for free at a regular clinic or your family doctor's?

I got my Tdap done for free at my family doctor in Manitoba! 

[don_mar 18]

On 6/22/2019 at 7:21 AM, IndigoFlowers said:

I got my Tdap done for free at my family doctor in Manitoba! 

We are in BC, nothing is free here!