As a newbie in Germany, it is pretty difficult to understand the system and processes in the initial stages. When it comes to medical advice or booking an appointment, you might have to wait for hours or even months in some cases just to get an appointment for consulting. 

This experience was shared by an international student in Germany. The article is made anonymously by the request of the student.

“I was a student in one of the largest cities in Germany and I am very interested in sports. So, I used to practice every weekend. This incident happened on a weekend which was also a festive period in Germany. I fell down when I was playing. Initially, I thought it was just a sprain but in few minutes i couldn’t bear the pain and I realized that I broke my arm. I had to rush to nearby hospital. Since I was not so familiar with the procedures in Germany, I thought that I can go directly to a hospital nearby (Uniklinik) and check with a doctor in the emergency section.

I called my friends to join me and we went to the hospital. It was a holiday, so in the emergency section, they informed that there are not many doctors available on that particular day. They asked me clearly whether it’s an emergency or just a normal injury.

I told them clearly that I could not bear the pain and it is an emergency situation. There were so many people waiting to consult with the doctor. I took a seat as well after the first aid was given. It was already thirty minutes and no one attended to me. My friend asked again, explaining my situation with the person in charge of the patient registrations. They told me to wait for few more minutes. It was already 3 hours by then and I was sitting with my broken arm in the emergency. I thought this is not going to be fine and i decided to call other hospitals nearby. The one in which I was waiting was the largest in the city. The other hospitals also informed me that I had to wait longer because of the holiday. The funny part is that some even gave me an appointment to consult a doctor after  three weeks even after stating my situation.

So, I decided to wait in the same hospital. Again, we informed the nurses to have a look at my arm since the pain was unbearable. It is the 5th hour now. The nurse decided to give me a pain killer.

I got relieved a bit. But, my anger aggravated because of the lack of support. Since I was a newcomer, I did not know much German. Myself and my friend literally had to fight with them explaining the situation and had to push them to bring a doctor as soon as possible. After 6 hours of waiting in pain and anger, I finally met the doctor.

I was so surprised by this system and process in Germany because even in case of emergency, except for those patients who arrived in an ambulance, all others had to wait so long. The public holiday lead to even more waiting time because of the non availability of doctors in the hospital. I could not imagine the case of smaller hospitals during these times.