hi! I’m in Taichung until next month but my throat has been feeling kind of off. It’s almost been a week now so I was hoping to get it checked just to be sure but I’m not sure where/which doctor to go to. I can’t speak Chinese so it would be really helpful if I can go to a doctor that can speak in English and translate the consultation for me. Thank you so much in advance!
Most doctors speak English, although some might not do it willingly.
Just go to any large hospital, you will be assisted.
I can kinda refer you to my cousin, he’s an ENT doctor. I’m sure he speaks English though.
is there any hospital you could recommend? also thanks so much for replying!
thank you so much for replying! would it be possible to know the name of his clinic and where it’s located?
I dot remember, I know it’s close to an mrt station but don’t remember which. I don’t live in Taichung. Have to ask my dad but it might be a few days before I can get back.
But major hospitals is a good bet, most doctors will speak English.
okay will try to look for a larger hospital around the area. thanks again for the help!!
You can try this clinic, but you’d have to show up before 8:00AM and wait in line. Otherwise you’ll never get in. She’s that good. [EDIT: I have corrected the address. I made a mistake when initially posting it.]
Otherwise, just go to China Medical University Hospital. It’s one of the biggest and best:
That sounds like a massive pain just to see a doctor, IMO. I think there’s a tendency among many people here to feel they need only the best doctor – the Taiwanese equivalent of House or something – to diagnose their runny nose, when in most cases any vaguely competent doctor is going to be fine. My former landlady got knocked over by a scooter once and waited several weeks to see a “good” doctor, when the sensible approach would have been to see any doctor as soon as possible.
I don’t know whether @randomgirlintaichung has an ARC or NHI (maybe not, if she’s just here temporarily), but I gave up on clinics in general a few years back – too much hassle if you don’t speak Chinese/don’t have NHI/don’t have an ARC, limited equipment for more sophisticated tests like microbial cultures or imaging, a three-day limit (I think) for medicines, and not necessarily cheaper without NHI anyway.
Before getting NHI, I once had to pay NT$900–1000, double what a hospital would have charged, for a simple consultation, misdiagnosis, and three days of unnecessary medicines, and that was also at a “good” ENT clinic in Taipei. That’s when I decided I couldn’t be bothered with clinics anymore.
I have no specific recommendations for Taichung, but I’d also suggest just picking the closest major hospital that has a usable English website, choosing an available ENT doctor at random, and doing whatever online and on-site registration procedures it says to do. Most likely it’s just a routine ENT thing that any ENT doctor can diagnose and treat, but having access to the broader range of tests available at a hospital wouldn’t hurt.
I have a doctor in the building right next to where I live. I went to him twice. Both times I did, the medicine he prescribed was useless, and my condition became worse. I have gone to a couple of other local doctors, with similar results. That’s just how it works here. I don’t mess around with my health. I drive half an hour and wait in line to get decent medical attention. She knows I drive a long way, and she’s very understanding. She doesn’t give me three days of medicine, and she said I don’t have to wait in line if I just need to renew a prescription. She really is a good doctor.
I thought you were recommending your cousin who isn’t a doctor but speaks English.
He’s a doctor, might speak english because it’s hard to pass medical school without english ability.
An ENT?
yes
I don’t bother with clinics either since they are little more than pill farms. Most hospitals should have a reservation system online if you can navigate the Chinese website with a translator. That makes it much easier to just show up and go straight to the doctor’s office and slot in your NHI card bypassing the front desk. Although sometimes they sometimes make you fill out a form if it’s your first time visiting.
Me neither, which is why I go to hospitals where they have the facilities and equipment to do whatever’s needed rather than messing around with clinics. As a bonus, I don’t need to go there before 8 a.m. and queue up.
Each to their own of course and good you found a doctor you like. I skimmed the reviews for your place on Google Maps (the link is wrong btw - the ENT clinic seems to be the business next door, though maybe they’re connected) and they seemed alright but not overwhelmingly positive. A few people were complaining about the crazy long wait time, and specifically about the clinic letting people wanting to renew prescriptions skip the queue and holding things up even more for others in the queue. Many of the reviews seemed to be about sinusitis (and one person wrote that the doctor blames everything on sinusitis lol).
There’s no proof those negative reviews on Google are by her patients. When you have a practice like that, it’s bound to attract attention and jealousy. She really is that good. Yes, you have to spend time in line, but that’s just how it works here. To go to a random clinic or hospital is simply bad advice. The original poster did it correctly by asking for specific recommendations for doctors. There aren’t a lot of people on here from Taichung, so the responses will be few. I hope she gets to see a doctor.
There’s no proof the positive reviews are by her patients either, but that’s how online reviews work. Suggesting that only the negative ones are false is kind of weird, but people complaining about long wait times doesn’t seem surprising when you’ve literally said the wait times are long. Even a good doctor is going to have some unsatisfied patients.
Disagree. It’s not how it’s worked for me.
Disagree. It’s worked totally fine for me (the hospitals part, don’t bother with clinics as I’ve said).
It’s not bad advice, and most hospital doctors here are going to be sufficiently competent to diagnose and treat what in all likelihood is a routine ENT problem. They definitely don’t need to wait in line for hours at a particular clinic to deal with this.
That’s not exactly what they asked. They indicated they were unsure where to go as someone here temporarily and unfamiliar with seeking medical attention here. For this the ENT department of a major hospital is a totally valid suggestion.
Again, if you like your doctor it’s fine, but it’s not the only solution.
But not a random hospital, either. That’s not sound advice. There are a couple in my area I would never go to. Ask around and get boots-on-the-ground recommendations.
For the original poster, this is the correct address for the clinic I recommended above. Sorry for the mix-up.