If medical care is required in Saudi Arabia, whether one is a Saudi national or an expat, I wish to assure anyone reading this post that professional and competent care is widely available. I had the luck (or misfortune?) of requiring several operations and other treatments in Saudi Arabia. However the point of this post is to remind everyone to be their own advocate and take control of his or her care regardless if in Saudi Arabia or elsewhere.
While I have found the professionalism and experience of Saudi doctors to be without fault, one significant area where I believe Saudi Arabia still lags a bit behind compared to other places is proactively providing a patient with information. Doctors will respond readily to questions which are asked but what about if a patient is not informed enough to know which questions to ask in the first place? There does seem to be more of a tendency with physicians in Saudi to have the ailment or procedures addressed and treated but not receive adequate information for the future after one has been discharged. For example after having had a mastectomy with reconstruction surgery it was not until I investigated and found information via various web sites that I learned about more ways I could make myself comfortable as I recuperated from the procedure at home.
I also wish to remind everyone that as an individual, we are the ones who best know our body and when something is amiss. If you feel you are being short-changed or not understood by a physician who does not seem to take your condition seriously, do not be shy to consult with another doctor. In my opinion any physician who dares to say an ailment is “all in ones head” is a physician to stop seeing immediately! And to further illustrate how one needs to be his or her own advocate and that oversights do not take place only in Saudi Arabia, I will share another personal experience while in the United States.
I required to have a biopsy performed and was scheduled to go to a facility for the procedure. On arrival the facility had biopsy slides already labeled with my name and location where the biopsy was to be performed. However once the procedure started, it was realized that the original area for a biopsy was too delicate of an area and an alternative area had to be selected. It was not until I had regrouped with my primary physician to review results that I caught that the report from the facility identified the biopsy area as the original area and not the actual area where the biopsy was performed. I pointed this out to my primary physician who contacted the facility immediately. The facility confirmed my finding and amended my records accordingly. Although in my case the results did not change my physician’s diagnosis or plans it is imperative to ensure medical records are correct to avoid any future problems due to human error.
Do not be shy or afraid to speak up to a physician. Do ask questions. Keep informed. One web site I have found useful to answering some of my questions in advance or helping me to prepare questions to review with a physician is the web md web site. Do not use this web site in place of a doctor!!
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Never having had the need for medical treatment while in Saudi (all though I certainly was very sick during my Umra trip I wasnt taken to hospital)…I cant comment on their level of care…but having had to submit to many a hospital stay in Bahrain I can attest to the fact that hospital care there is very substandard. Especially in the govt run hospital. I have many many hair raising stories to tell (some of which I mentioned on my blog)…so much so that I would NOT go to the hosp unless i just couldnt stand the pain anymore or whatever was wrong with me….*shuddering just remembering*
Hey Carol,
hmm… interesting to know that the medical care is by par n doctors are responsive. How about medical insurance? Can you like buy something that covers majority of the hospitals and provide cashless services? Irrespective of the local location in SA?
Regards,
P
P,
Good question. I am not aware of anything like you have described. Not all Saudi hopsitals are public or accept expats. Most expats tend to go to the privately run hospitals. These private hospitals will accept insurance but I’m not sure under what terms. Can anyone else shed more info?
Good post – knowledge is key, but I almost feel in this internet age that many doctors almost assume that we look for the answers beforehand and therefore don’t tell us as much!
We just went to the local clinic, but I do know that if there was something more serious we would be sure to go to a private hospital… there seems to be very big perceptions of differences which is probably true. The nurses seem to make the biggest difference – I think there have been a few episodes of Tash Ma Tash dealing with the doctors and nurses 
My husband (Jordanian national) went to a few different doctors in KSA before finally coming to the U.S. for his cancer treatment because the doctors he had in KSA first mis-diagnosed him and then were not able to treat him as needed (at least the ones he went to). His mother also got treated from breast cancer in KSA and they did a similar ‘mistake’ initially… I know there are good doctors, but his stories of trying to get treatment and arguing with the doctors about his symptoms sounds… frustrating.
I had to go to the local clinic in Jordan and while the facilities were certainly not the most… advanced?/cleanest?… I actually found the service TERRIFIC and got blood tests done and results back super fast and for only $30
I don’t know about insurance in KSA, but I know that there is local insurance in some of the other Gulf countries that will cover medical services in a manner similar to the U.S. (with deductibles and the like).
My recommendation for anyone having a serious illness is to get treatment outside of KSA…after all, that’s what most of the Royal family does.
We practised in ksa albeit many many yrs ago and i can state atleast in our case the care we provided was no less or better than what we provide elsewhere. Our knowledge was as updated as it is now
however there is a diff in dealing with the patient, in ksa we stuck to the complaint, treatment and that was that, however here i have a tendancey to give out all the info regarding the issue that pops up relevant or not, we cover varios scenarios, even far fetched it’s more a CYA policy.
In any place you have to ask questions , there are a million situations/issues/side effects to any medical case, Drs may not hit all of them and every individual is different so you have to be prepared to ask questions.
Also it’s much more liberating to practice in many countries incl india and KSA , 1. they know you can’t fix everything and 2. you’re human, humans make mistakes that’s why there’s such a thing called 2nd opinion .
It’s your body, if something doesn’t feel right ,ask , question demand verification. you are your own best advocate and most imp please divulge all info .. i really mean EVERYTHING.
In KSA, are there health issues that affect the wider population like in the African continent HIV, AIDS, Sickle Cell, Malaria is epidemic and endemic, in the Asian continent I know Thalasemia is wide spread and in Europe, they have diseases that are prevelent in certain races.
If so how does the government/ society tackle these issues?
@Radha – thanks for sharing your experiences and great advice for all.
@maryam – due to interfamilial marriages there are a number of diseases and health problems encountered in Saudi that is not seen in the West. And then there is hajj which brings millions from around the world only to makkah each year and can also bring differing illnesses.
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Thank you Andrew. I see that you focus more on appendicitis but if you care to do a search on my blog on medical, health care or cancer you will see where I have written other posts on med oriented subjects and as they relate to KSA.
Best Regards, Bedu
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@chatte – welcome and thank you for your comment.