[GreenMeansGo]

I know you Brits don't always like your panel doctors, but at least they know what they are doing!

We had to book these through an MD here in the states, and I have had to do so much handholding I feel like I ought to be getting paid as a babysitter (uh, childminder?)

We had 3 appointments with the MD- 1 for the daughters, 1 for me, 1 for OH. Then a separate appointment with a radiologist for xrays. Then go in for the results of the labs with the MD again. Point out 4 different areas where things were missing or incorrect. Then I noticed that the radiologist neglected to fill out half the page, so that has gone back to them and will hopefully be returned in a timely manner. Oh, and did I mention that one of my labs is slightly high (ALT) so the doc is having me redo the liver function test to see if it was just a fluke. Which means another blood draw and waiting for results and getting those back from him (plus maybe now getting referred for more tests by an MA). argh!

ok. whining over. :o

[TheNaylors]

Ok, I won't whinge about ours anymore (although he was a bit scatterbrained :D) :)...we had visit to hospital for xrays and then off to panel doctor for bloods and health check for all of us on one appointment and that was that!!! The only fussing we had to do was chase consultants for a few letters which took a couple of weeks...but managed to pick medicals up a week afetr we submitted them!

I hope if you do have to be referred that you aren't messed around much!

On a brighter note, now you have had the medicals out the way...you can celebrate a little :cheers:D

[JandM]

Fingers crossed for it all to turn out all right. ++++++++++++++ You deserve it, after all that!

[m.brad.russell]

I know you Brits don't always like your panel doctors, but at least they know what they are doing!

We had to book these through an MD here in the states, and I have had to do so much handholding I feel like I ought to be getting paid as a babysitter (uh, childminder?)

We had 3 appointments with the MD- 1 for the daughters, 1 for me, 1 for OH. Then a separate appointment with a radiologist for xrays. Then go in for the results of the labs with the MD again. Point out 4 different areas where things were missing or incorrect. Then I noticed that the radiologist neglected to fill out half the page, so that has gone back to them and will hopefully be returned in a timely manner. Oh, and did I mention that one of my labs is slightly high (ALT) so the doc is having me redo the liver function test to see if it was just a fluke. Which means another blood draw and waiting for results and getting those back from him (plus maybe now getting referred for more tests by an MA). argh!

ok. whining over. :o

I feel your pain. We made at least 6 visits back to each person until the forms appeared correct to our eyes; Still could be wrong I guess. We are in Southern California where they are much more used to seeing immigration documents relating to U.S. immigration, not emigration to another country. Threw a few of them for a loop.

Brad

[clairelouise]

Ohhh poor you! What a farce!
Good luck with the results though!!!

[the dobs]

did you grt your ALT level down? Its a problem we have and we don't know whether to submit the medical with it or not .
Help

[GreenMeansGo]

nope. second test was still high, unfortunately. We will send in our ITA this week (yikes!), so we'll see if I get referred to the medical assessor or not. Regardless, now the doc wants to follow up with me to see what is going on, so it's more tests for me. I really really hope this doesn't affect our application. (seriously, moderators, we need a "fingers crossed" smilie!)

[lindreth]

It would be nice if the US had panel doctors. We ran into difficulties too due to the doctors/radiologist/staff not understanding what needed to be done. The x-ray technician flatly refused to sign my form initially, until I spoke with a supervisor. It was ridiculous. Our ITA would have been filed 2-3 weeks sooner if not for their bumbling around...
here's hoping it was all right in the end!! best of luck with your ITA! :)

[BkyMonster]

At least you went in well prepared (to some degree) to instruct them!

My doctor kind of rushed the whole thing, so no surprise half of his assessments ended up being not good enough for NZIS. :(

[JandM]

On the 'house on sale' thread, we started doing ++++++++++++++ for 'fingers crossed'. (We haven't got the power to introduce other smilies, you see.)

[the dobs]

nope. second test was still high, unfortunately. We will send in our ITA this week (yikes!), so we'll see if I get referred to the medical assessor or not. Regardless, now the doc wants to follow up with me to see what is going on, so it's more tests for me. I really really hope this doesn't affect our application. (seriously, moderators, we need a "fingers crossed" smilie!)

Sounds like we are in the same boat. OH going to docs today to discuss it -our advice in nz have said that they don't think it will be a big prob but any help from our doc eg a letter saying they aren't concerned or treating the high level, would probably help. Doc who did original test said the only reason they test the liver is to check for alcohol so if you can prove your not an alkie! you should be ok!! I think i may end up one after this!!:cheers:cheers

[BodaciousBean]

Doc who did original test said the only reason they test the liver is to check for alcohol so if you can prove your not an alkie! you should be ok!! I think i may end up one after this!!:cheers:cheers

LOL, the doc must have been kidding because also, they check for any sign of hepatitis. My husband's liver panel was all over the charts initially but had them re-done twice after and each time his levels went down. But he refrained from taking any kind of medication and supplements. It seems the liver is very sensitive to anything the body ingests but very quick to bounce back, when there is not any kind of illness (i.e. hepatitis, cirrhosis). So, his doctor did check the "abnormal" box on the medical but made a note after retesting, everything decreased to the "normal" range. I hope the NZIS does not make a stink about even though his doctor said he was fine, no significant findings on his medical.

I too, along with my husband, had to do a lot of hand-holding during the exam. I had to show everyone where to sign, to make sure everything was dated right (which my doctor did not, we do everything backwards, LOL). I had an easier time than my husband. My hubby's radiologist and blood tech made a big stink about signing the forms, they argued that my hubby's doctor is suppose to sign them instead of them. UGH! Glad that is all over with. :nice1

[np2nz]

After reading your experiences (the US folks), I am really scared now. We have our medicals scheduled for March 5th. We still need to schedule for chest X-rays as well as the physicals for the kids (under 5 years old).

Can we do chest X-ray before the physical and labs? The X-ray will have to be done else where as the doctor I am going to see for the physical and labs does not have x-ray facility.

Please give me some advice before we go for the medicals to make this process a little less painful.

[BkyMonster]

I'd advise printing out a copy of the physicians guide to the form http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/26FA9CF0-982A-4B9A-A0C5-5835F7D0E398/0/MedicalExaminerHandbookweb.pdf or at least have a read through it so you can help your doctor out. (My doctor didn't want to read it)
Otherwise make sure the X-ray technician and blood taking technician sign your forms appropriately. Make sure the Xray tech sends your form with your xrays to the radiologist (I had problems with this and had to repeat xrays :mad: as it is a law that the documents have to travel with the xrays and cannot be dealt with afterwards, or so a nurse told me.)
Other than that it should be fairly straightforward. The doctor will need to sign and date in a few places, it may be helpful to mark them before hand. I put post-its on the pages so I could check. I believe the doctor also needs to initial every page as in the US you don't have a booklet, just what you printed off.
Make sure you get all the original lab report forms to submit with your medical (my doctor also didn't do this...:wah).

Other than that you can certainly do xrays first. Good luck.

[TheNaylors]

Can we do chest X-ray before the physical and labs? The X-ray will have to be done else where as the doctor I am going to see for the physical and labs does not have x-ray facility.

Please give me some advice before we go for the medicals to make this process a little less painful.

We had our x-rays done a week before the medicals and had no problem with that. They were meant to be on the same day for ease as the panel doctors are just over the road but the doctor postponed for a week and we were able to keep our x-rays on the original day. The hospital kept the medical forms after signing them and sent them on to the panel doctors for the doctor to complete a week later.

Hope that helps

[BodaciousBean]

After reading your experiences (the US folks), I am really scared now. We have our medicals scheduled for March 5th. We still need to schedule for chest X-rays as well as the physicals for the kids (under 5 years old).

Can we do chest X-ray before the physical and labs? The X-ray will have to be done else where as the doctor I am going to see for the physical and labs does not have x-ray facility.

Please give me some advice before we go for the medicals to make this process a little less painful.

Hey there,

Don't be scared. Make sure you read over the forms several times and get aquainted with all the information, where to sign, where the doctors need to sign and make sure everything is completed. I had to explain to my doctor the purpose of this exam and he was just blown away by all the formalities and all the info the NZIS wants. He kept saying, "wow, they sure do give you hard time..." The exam with the doctor was a piece of cake. It was with the radiologist and blood tech that got dicey. Fortunately for me, my X-Ray and blood tech were awesome and did what I asked. I said, "you need to sign here..." And "make sure you date the forms with the day FIRST, then month, then year." And they did. My hubby's techs were not as cooperative. They kept telling them his GP needs to sign everything even though it says in plain black and white, "BLOOD TECH'S signiature, X-RAY TECH'S signiature. LOL Just BE FIRM if they give you a hard time. Chances are they will do what you ask. Hubby's HMO stinks and his medical was just another example of how bad it is. He has had problems in the past with them.

Again, I recommend you get really familiar with the forms and what will be needed and things will be okay. Since there are not any panel doctors in the USA, doctors and techs really do not see this at all and are not familiar with the process so it is up to the patient to know what is needed. Good luck and try not to worry, everything will be okay. :nice1

[np2nz]

Thank you BkyMonster, TheNaylors, and BodaciousBean. You guys have been very helpful.

I have gone over the 16-pages forms for several times, but I have not gone over the 55-pages instruction mannual that BkyMonster posted above. Do I really have to read that (55-pages)? I am pretty sure that my doctor will not be interested to read it either. They have scheduled us for 30 minutes each.

[m.brad.russell]

Make sure you get all the original lab report forms to submit with your medical (my doctor also didn't do this...:wah).


We submitted ours without the original lab report forms. In fact, we didn't even see my wife's. After reading a few posts about this I started to worry that they were required, but I couldn't find anywhere that the original lab reports had to be sent to London; Only the medical form with the lab results confirmed by the doctor. Where did you see that the original lab report is required?

Thanks,
Brad

[BkyMonster]

My case officer asked for them. I think it may say on the medical form, but doesn't emphasize really. (I just checked, at the top of page 10 it says medical examiner must sign and attach all test results http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/DE431E92-0ADE-4B5F-81F9-18DF08E5B2EA/0/1007.pdf)

My doctor had thought that if results were all normal then the originals did not need to be included. I'd get your doctors to send them to you so you can at least have them should your CO ask for them.

And, I read the 55 page manual just to know the whys of some of the test which proved helpful when my doctor complained about them. :( If I were doing the process again I would at least skim the document. But no you don't have to read it, it's up to you.

[m.brad.russell]

My case officer asked for them. I think it may say on the medical form, but doesn't emphasize really. (I just checked, at the top of page 10 it says medical examiner must sign and attach all test results http://www.immigration.govt.nz/NR/rdonlyres/DE431E92-0ADE-4B5F-81F9-18DF08E5B2EA/0/1007.pdf)

My doctor had thought that if results were all normal then the originals did not need to be included. I'd get your doctors to send them to you so you can at least have them should your CO ask for them.


Thanks for the clarification. We were under the same impression as your doctors. It just doesn't make much sense considering the resulting counts and such are transcribed to the form that was also signed by the doctor. I suppose we'll collect the forms if we're asked. Time will tell.

Brad

[PonyGirl]

Wow, sounds like this could be a fun adventure. I am planning to get my medicals done in NZ after arriving on my WHV, so maybe it will be easier. I guess we'll find out! Good luck everyone!!

[GreenMeansGo]

We submitted ours without the original lab report forms. In fact, we didn't even see my wife's. After reading a few posts about this I started to worry that they were required, but I couldn't find anywhere that the original lab reports had to be sent to London; Only the medical form with the lab results confirmed by the doctor. Where did you see that the original lab report is required?

Thanks,
Brad

On page 10 of the medicals cert itself, under section E "Urinalysis and Blood Tests", it says:
"Medical Examiner to sign and attach all test results".

I hope that means just sign the med cert, cause we didn't get the lab results signed, and I am really not up for one more trip to the dr's office!!!

hopefully sending everything off tomorrow, better get to work :exit

[Watna]

Wow, sounds like this could be a fun adventure. I am planning to get my medicals done in NZ after arriving on my WHV, so maybe it will be easier. I guess we'll find out! Good luck everyone!!

Are you going to be in Wellington? The doc who did my Medical was excellent. He was from the UK so had gone through it himself. If you are going to Welly I can definitely recommend him. Let me know if you want the name. Getting my medical here was fairly easy. I even went on my lunch break from work and has the x-ray and blood test on my lunch break over the next two days.

[PonyGirl]

Unfortunately no, I'll be Tauranga. But that would have been nice, he sounds like he does a great job. Thanks though!