[Nathan Zachary]

I can tell you what would happen if you case was in Canada.

First, you’d make an appointment with your family doctor (if you had one) and wait about a month or so for that.
Then he’d send you to a specialist (dermatologist) which could take up to a year, who would then schedule you to have a biopsy, another 3-6 month wait, which because it’s on your face would be done by a cosmetic surgeon.

Sometimes if you have a good doc, he’ll skip the dermatologist and just send you to the cosmetic surgeon to have it removed regardless, just to be on the safe side.

You can’t in most cases simply walk into a specialists office such as a dermatologist without first seeing the family physician, usually a GP. They are the front line docs who send you to the specialist you need and the situation calls for.

[redpoll]

>>I can tell you what would happen if you case was in Canada.<<

Thanks for giving me the run-down here about the Canadian system. I figured it would be long waits and official rules, but I didn’t think it would be that onerous. Wow.

Interestingly, or maybe, predictably, the dermatologists that I’m going to see in Anchorage are all Canadians. At least, I presume they are, since they are all certified by the both the American and Canadian medical organizations for dermatologists... and they all have names like “Jayne” and “Thompson.” I’m sure that physicians flee the Canadian system in the same manner as the patients.

Thanks again.

[abner]

I was in Quebec last weekend. Most people I talked to were extremely snide about the health care system there. Then, I ran into the anomaly. I was talking to an 18 year old who was recently diagnosed with a rare syndrome. She was glowing about the system there. How did that happen? Just curious and I will fight not to have Hillary care!