American Health Care - student style

It started out as a beautiful morning. I was very much enjoying sitting with Ranger's kitty Annika eating an orange. Work was calling so I packed up my bag, pet the kitty one last time, and walked out the door. Suddenly I felt my ankle turn, which led to my ungraceful landing on her front step. A curious mailman looked like he might walk over but I think my cursing sent him away. Crying, cursing, women apparently are not his cup of tea.

I must be honest, this wouldn't be the first time I turned my ankle and sat swearing on a curb, front step, or convenient rock. On my trip to New Zealand I successfully navigated a glacial field with no problem but twisted my ankle in the restaurant where we had lunch. Walking is apparently a dangerous activity for me.

Living in the land of for profit healthcare I have a few options to have my ankle checked. Hospital emergency room, indigent drop-in clinics, or our campus health clinic. Loathing the idea of waiting in an emergency room (holdover from Canada) and not being indigent, I decided I would make use of the student health clinic.

Quite the eye opener. I am used to my primary healthcare site and much more handholding (holdover from Canada again), than I received here. While the staff were pleasant enough I was asked to climb up on the table without the use of a stool or better yet a small ladder. This can be challenging enough able bodied but I was stumped by the request. The nurse turned around and asked me what I was there for and I said, "I twisted my ankle and I can barely walk". It was only then that she seemed to realize the problem. I was asked to walk to x-ray where I got to listen to a racist, misogynistic, rant from the technician. The x-ray machine itself looked like it had been obtained from a Nicaraguan hospital during the Somoza regime.

One of my coworkers who earned a degree or two from MPOW, has called this clinic, the "Voodoo Hut." I always thought that was a little harsh but now....