IslandLady

I had my medical today at Andrews Memorial Hospital in Kingston. It was an ALL-DAY process! I've detailed the process below, but here's the summary: Carry a good book, a snack and a drink/water. I was there from 9:05 am to 3:25 pm. COSTS: JAD$17,650 / USD$202.88 Medical - JAD$9,900 Tetanus vaccine - JAD$4,80 MMR vaccine - JAD$1,200 Varicella vaccine - JAD$1,750 DETAILED STORY I got there at about 9:05 am. They had told me on the phone that they do visa medicals from 10-12 a.m., and it's on a first-come-first-served basis. So I thought I'd be early. Wrong! There were MANY people there ahead of me. One lady I spoke with, told me that she was told they do visa medicals from 8-10 a.m. They directed me to the main office where I gave my name and they registered me. The agent instructed me to write my name on the back of all 4 photos, verified that I had a filled-out medical exam form, my passport valid for at least 6 months, and my visa interview letter, then told me to wait outside and listen for my name. At LEAST 1.5 hours later (!!!) I was called back into the office. Another agent took my paperwork, passport and photos and gave me paperwork and instructions for my labs. I was to do a blood test and a chest x-ray. The blood test was done pretty quickly. I had to then go BACK to the main office area, wait AGAIN for my name to be called by a nurse, who took my vitals... weight, height, blood pressure, temperature. Then I got more paperwork and was sent off to the radiology dept. for my chest x-ray. In that department, I gave the agent the paperwork and my passport, and was, again, told to wait. After another 20 minutes, I was sent to another waiting area, where I WAITED for about half an hour before I was called to do the x-ray. X-rays took about 20 minutes to get done, and I made my way back to the main office area, where I WAITED for over an hour to be examined by the doctor. She looked at my history, filled out paperwork, looked at the additional records I had brought and asked me some questions, then did the exam. It was routine - eyes, ears, mouth, breathing, knees, lymph nodes, feet, breast exam, etc. Then we discussed my history (I've had measles twice, never had chicken pox, I'm in my 40s - and sent me to get the tetanus/diptheria, MMR, and varicella (chicken pox) shots. I had to wait for at least 45 minutes to get those 3 shots... then I was done. At 3:25 pm I was walking out of the hospital.