# Finding a Dr in mexico



## Smchen44 (Apr 18, 2015)

Hi all,
Pleased to be a member...really appreciate all the information freely provided by all you good folks. 
Now onto my question please.
I have diabetes, also have fibromyalgia and have just been diagnosed with osteoarthritis. I am on quite a few meds, including tynelol 3 with codeine. Wondering if I can find a Dr in Mexico who will prescribe meds for pain as well as my diabetic meds? Trying to avoid having to travel back and forth from Canada and Mexico. Any advice? Thank you in advance!


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## RVGRINGO (May 16, 2007)

Of course you can find a doctor. Just ask friends and neighbors to recommend a good one, or tell us where you will be located and others may contact you with their experiences. Most medications can be purchased over the counter, except for some antibiotics and all controlled substances like narcotics, which are very difficult to obtain without having a specialized physician authorize them; much more difficult than in the USA or Canada. With your pre-existing contidions, you probably will not qualify for a Mexican insurance policy, so be prepared to pay for your medications and care with your own funds.


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## jlms (May 15, 2008)

Yellow pages?


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

jlms said:


> Yellow pages?


Oddly enough, but you can find doctors that speak English in the seccion amarilla. The doctors will have ads stating where they went to school, where they did their internship, and what hospitals they served in. If any were in the US, Canada or other English speaking country, you found a winner.


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## citlali (Mar 4, 2013)

joaquinx said:


> . If any were in the US, Canada or other English speaking country, you found a winner.


Not always true, there are plenty of bad doctors outside of Mexico as well and plenty of doctors who think foreigners are cash cows. Go by local recommendations any day, if the top doctor does not speak English go with someone who can translate.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

Well, I must say that the Chapala community on the shores of the lake is becoming overrun with opportunists seeking pesos from all the naive old goobers around here and I predict this will become worse. These medical/social/municipal advisor charlatans will hop into their cars and drive down here to the lake at the slightest pull of their tails from local opportunists/partners living and thriving at the lake just so they can overcharge folks who should have never left Spokane and Dr. Billy Bob in the first place.


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

Hound Dog said:


> Well, I must say that the Chapala community on the shores of the lake is becoming overrun with opportunists seeking pesos from all the naive old goobers around here and I predict this will become worse. These medical/social/municipal advisor charlatans will hop into their cars and drive down here to the lake at the slightest pull of their tails from local opportunists/partners living and thriving at the lake just so they can overcharge folks who should have never left Spokane and Dr. Billy Bob in the first place.


Well said, Dawg !


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

citlali said:


> Not always true, there are plenty of bad doctors outside of Mexico as well and plenty of doctors who think foreigners are cash cows. Go by local recommendations any day, if the top doctor does not speak English go with someone who can translate.


The search in the Yellow Pages I mentioned only finds doctors who speak English and not their competency. Local recommendations are hit and miss to find a top doctor.


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## Smchen44 (Apr 18, 2015)

Thank you! I really appreciate being able to ask questions in here. How long have you been living in Mexico?


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=joaquinx;7027658]The search in the Yellow Pages I mentioned only finds doctors who speak English and not their competency. Local recommendations are hit and miss to find a top doctor.[/QUOTE]_

You know, joaquinx, I have had the pleasure of visiting Xalapa a few times and find it a nice city if a bit hilly and with some unpleasant traffic tie-ups. There is, as I recall, a bit of "chipi-chipi" there up against the mountains. Also, as I recall, there are not a whole lot of English speakers thereabouts as is true of San Cristóbal de Las Casas where we live a few months every year but here at Lake Chapala, it seems that a doctor´s main skill is to speak English and for that skill they can be much admired and even fawned over mindlessly by the large expat community. They may kill you in under an hour but that is OK as long as they proclaim, "Well, Billy Bob, sorry I removed you liver by accident instead of your gall bladder. Adios amigo."


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

Smchen44 said:


> Thank you! I really appreciate being able to ask questions in here. How long have you been living in Mexico?


Since 1999.


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## joaquinx (Jul 3, 2010)

In addition the the doctor's ability to speak English, the yellow page ad will mention where they studied for their degree, where they did their internship, and if they practiced in an English speaking country.

Are you one of those people that "has" to respond to every post?


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## coondawg (May 1, 2014)

Hound Dog said:


> [_QUOTE=joaquinx;7027658]The search in the Yellow Pages I mentioned only finds doctors who speak English and not their competency. Local recommendations are hit and miss to find a top doctor._




You know, joaquinx, I have had the pleasure of visiting Xalapa a few times and find it a nice city if a bit hilly and with some unpleasant traffic tie-ups. There is, as I recall, a bit of "chipi-chipi" there up against the mountains. Also, as I recall, there are not a whole lot of English speakers thereabouts as is true of San Cristóbal de Las Casas where we live a few months every year but here at Lake Chapala, it seems that a doctor´s main skill is to speak English and for that skill they can be much admired and even fawned over mindlessly by the large expat community. They may kill you in under an hour but that is OK as long as they proclaim, "Well, Billy Bob, sorry I removed you liver by accident instead of your gall bladder. Adios amigo."[/QUOTE]

Dawg, I couldn't have said it any better.


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## Hound Dog (Jan 18, 2009)

[_QUOTE=coondawg;7028610]_

You know, joaquinx, I have had the pleasure of visiting Xalapa a few times and find it a nice city if a bit hilly and with some unpleasant traffic tie-ups. There is, as I recall, a bit of "chipi-chipi" there up against the mountains. Also, as I recall, there are not a whole lot of English speakers thereabouts as is true of San Cristóbal de Las Casas where we live a few months every year but here at Lake Chapala, it seems that a doctor´s main skill is to speak English and for that skill they can be much admired and even fawned over mindlessly by the large expat community. They may kill you in under an hour but that is OK as long as they proclaim, "Well, Billy Bob, sorry I removed you liver by accident instead of your gall bladder. Adios amigo."[/QUOTE]

Dawg, I couldn't have said it any better. [/QUOTE][/I]

Well, coondawg, Hound Dawg is beginning to take a liking to you, especially wih that internet name you use but that doesn´t imply an invitation to the to the old "in-and-out" as was the term used in the British movie _A Clockwork Orange _ from the 1960s.


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## Smchen44 (Apr 18, 2015)

joaquinx said:


> In addition the the doctor's ability to speak English, the yellow page ad will mention where they studied for their degree, where they did their internship, and if they practiced in an English speaking country.
> 
> Are you one of those people that "has" to respond to every post?


No I don't feel the need to respond to every post. I was merely trying to be friendly and to find out how long ppl have been in Mexico.


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## mcn (Apr 14, 2015)

When I first came to Mexico, I emailed my embassy and asked if they had a list of English speaking doctors they could suggest and they did. From the list, I selected one in a good private hospital nearby. Yours might do the same.
The other day, I asked a doctor-friend how a Mexican selects a doctor from scratch and she said through recommendation or by just walking into a hospital and asking for one.


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