About Medtrav
Medtrav is an online guidebook to Asia-Pacific medical tourism. Medtrav is owned and operated by Chris Rowthorn. Medtrav is for anyone who needs/wants high-quality medical care at a reasonable price, including Americans without health insurance. Medtrav is fully independent and receives not kickbacks or advertising fees from any of the places listed on the site. This insures that the information on the site is reliable, trustworthy and objective. Chris researched and wrote this guide completely at his own expense, during his travels around the Asia-Pacific region.
Note that Medtrav is focused on primary, elective and preventive medical care. Medtrav does not concern itself with cosmetic surgery, but some of the hospitals on the site do offer such services. Medtrav does not and never will cover hospitals that engage in illegal organ transplantation or similar unethical procedures (note that this primarily occurs in mainland China, which is not covered by Medtrav). Finally, Medtrav strives to cover institutions that serve their local communities as well as international patients, so that medical tourism does not result in fewer medical services for the local population.
About Chris Rowthorn
Chris Rowthorn is an American travel journalist who has been based in Kyoto, Japan, since 1992. Chris has worked full-time for Lonely Planet Publications since 1997 and has researched and written guides to Japan, the Philippines, Borneo, Malaysia and Victoria (Australia).
Chris first became of medical tourism by talking to American expats who had received medical care in Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and couldn’t stop raving about the price and quality. After hearing about this, Chris tried it for himself. Over the course of several years, Chris tried dentists and doctors in Thailand, Australia, New Zealand and Singapore. It was immediately clear that Asia-Pacific medical care was a complete no-brainer: it was at least as good as the care he had received back home and cost only a fraction of the price. Knowing how many Americans forgo necessary care due to the lack of health insurance and the outrageous costs of medical care in the United States, Chris decided to build a website to spread the word. You’re reading the result.
How I Do It
Let’s face it: doctors and dentists are part of the service industry. Why shouldn’t they be reviewed like other players in the service industry? This is what I’ve set out to do with Medtrav: review dentists, doctors, hospitals and clinics based on the actual service they provide.
I have been writing travel guidebooks for Lonely Planet for over 10 years now, so reviewing service industries is my bread and butter. In order to create this guide, I made multiple visits to each of the countries I cover. I reviewed the hotels, restaurants, attractions and shops the way I would when I write a guidebook for Lonely Planet: I do a lot of internet research and speak to savvy locals and expats. Then I personally visit all of the recommended places. In the case of hotels, that means inspecting the actual rooms, bathrooms and common areas. In the case of restaurants, that means sitting down and trying at least one dish.
For dentists, I actually make an appointment and have my teeth cleaned. That’s right: I submit to the hygienist, the hook and that dreaded suction device, sometimes several times in the course of a week. Sometimes, I get only the top teeth cleaned at a place, so the bottom teeth can be cleaned at the next place (you can imagine how puzzling this is for the dentists in question). This does not allow me to review how well a dentist might handle more complex procedures, but it gives me a chance see how efficient the booking process is, how good the facilities are and it gives me some idea of the general level of staff skill.
For doctors, I do one of two things: I either submit to a simple blood test (blood sugar and cholesterol) or I get my knee checked out. The former is self-explanatory, while the latter requires a bit of explanation. I have a small tear in the meniscus of my left knee, which I’ve had diagnosed and confirmed by MRI in Japan and the United States. I make an appointment at the hospital in question and say merely that I have some pain in my left knee and nothing more. The hospital makes and appointment for me to see one of their orthopedic specialists. I then get my knee diagnosed and judge the quality of the doctors and facilities. This allows me to judge the efficiency of the booking process, the quality of the facilities, and the competence of the nurses and doctors.