Our first taste of socialized medicine

E had been complaining of a sore ear for a few days. At first it seemed that it may be hesitation to get back to school after the holiday break...but there was still complaining this morning so we thought we ought to get in to the doctor to have it checked out. We signed up with a "surgery" (medical office) when we got here and were told to just call when the office opens to get assigned an appointment. I called and redialed a million times between 8.45 and 9.15a before I reached anyone -- they apparently don't put you in a "next available person will take your call" here...just says "the number you have dialed is busy." When I finally told her the situation, she said that their first available appointment wasn't until next Wednesday or I could try back tomorrow with the same calling routine starting at 8.45a. I told her there was a high likelihood that he had an ear infection, that I had never brought him in before and I wasn't sure of proper procedure, and that I had been diligent in calling every minute for the past 30 since they were opened. Then I asked what guarantee I would have in getting him an appt. by repeating the process tomorrow. Apparently something worked because she told me to bring him in around 11 and just wait.

We showed up a bit early...10.45ish and sat in the waiting room for about an hour. When they called E's name they told us to go to room #1. We walked into a room where a doctor was already waiting for us. She checked out his ears, prescribed an antibiotic, and we were out of there in 3 mins.

The biggest upside to the experience: NO copays and FREE prescriptions.