Are there American-trained doctors in Boquete, Panama?

From my experience a lot of the doctors available in Boquete and David (the closest larger city; about an hour away) have has some exposure to American training.  You will not find many if any actual North American doctors because the law makes if difficult for them to practice and they need to work in the public system for 2 years first.
 

From my experience a lot of the doctors available in Boquete and David (the closest larger city; about an hour away) have has some exposure to American training.  You will not find many if any actual North American doctors because the law makes if difficult for them to practice and they need to work in the public system for 2 years first.
 

I personally am an American trained doctor working in a mission in Boquete.  To my knowledge there is one American trained gynecologist living in Boquete but working in David which is about 30 minutes away.  He is also the assistant director of the Women's and Children's Hospital in David.  There are retired US physicians living in Boquete but not working or practicing medicine.  David has a large number of physicians working in private clinics or hospitals...

I personally am an American trained doctor working in a mission in Boquete.  To my knowledge there is one American trained gynecologist living in Boquete but working in David which is about 30 minutes away.  He is also the assistant director of the Women's and Children's Hospital in David.  There are retired US physicians living in Boquete but not working or practicing medicine.  David has a large number of physicians working in private clinics or hospitals and some have varying degrees of American training.

 

The picture above is of several patients at our clinic who just had cataract surgery.

To my knowledge, there are no American trained doctors with offices in Boquete. In nearby David, some doctors have received limited training in the U.S., but I know of none who are graduates of U.S. medical schools. U.S. medical degrees do not entitle a doctor to practice in Panama.
 

To my knowledge, there are no American trained doctors with offices in Boquete. In nearby David, some doctors have received limited training in the U.S., but I know of none who are graduates of U.S. medical schools. U.S. medical degrees do not entitle a doctor to practice in Panama.
 

The doctors in Boquete are not only American-trained but they are also bilingual.
 
The doctors in Boquete are mostly general practitioners. If you need a specialist or if you need more detail on your prescriptions, you have access to two good private hospitals, Hospital Mae Lewis and Hospital Chiriquí. These hospitals are both in David, which is around 30 minutes away from Boquete by car on a brand new, four-lane highway. Both of these hospitals have good doctors who are...

The doctors in Boquete are not only American-trained but they are also bilingual.
 
The doctors in Boquete are mostly general practitioners. If you need a specialist or if you need more detail on your prescriptions, you have access to two good private hospitals, Hospital Mae Lewis and Hospital Chiriquí. These hospitals are both in David, which is around 30 minutes away from Boquete by car on a brand new, four-lane highway. Both of these hospitals have good doctors who are also bilingual. In case that you need even more special attention then you have the option to travel to Panama City and get seen at a hospital there that is affiliated with a hospital in the US. 
 
Overall, if you have a general issue, there are doctors in Boquete who can look at you and if you need a specialist, you would go to David, and if you have something that is even beyond the doctors in David, then you can go to Panama City.  

 

(Hospital Mae Lewis, David, Chiriqui, Panama, pictured.)

No, there are no American-trained doctors in Boquete.  We do have several doctors that were trained in Spain. Others went to medical school in Panama. One guy went to a medical school in Cuba.
 
They all seem very well trained.  Doctors in Panama spend more time with their patients, do a thorough exam and ask a lot of questions to determine what your problem is before they make a diagnosis.
 
Many, many of the doctors here in Boquete speak very good English and...

No, there are no American-trained doctors in Boquete.  We do have several doctors that were trained in Spain. Others went to medical school in Panama. One guy went to a medical school in Cuba.
 
They all seem very well trained.  Doctors in Panama spend more time with their patients, do a thorough exam and ask a lot of questions to determine what your problem is before they make a diagnosis.
 
Many, many of the doctors here in Boquete speak very good English and they’ve dealt with all kinds of emergencies. I have a friend who is hospitalized right now with heart failure.  They were able to stabilize him here in Boquete, put him in an ambulance, and get him down to the hospital in David, about 30 minutes south of here. Two days later he’s doing just fine because of the stabilization that he had here in Boquete. 
 
We have a small Social Security hospital here in Boquete but it’s not really equipped to handle cardiac problems and other serious, acute medical emergencies.  For major medical problems people go to David.
 
On average it is $10 to go to the doctor, out of pocket, with no insurance.

 

(Pictured: pharmacy in Boquete.)

I don’t know of any American trained doctors in Boquete.  There are some doctors that people go to for just minor ailments who charge US $10 per visit and a prescription and you don’t have to have insurance 
 
There are two major hospitals that people use in Boquete; Chiriquí Hospital and Mae Lewis, both in David, less than half an hour from Boquete.  They have some American-trained doctors there. 
 
The doctors here are well...

I don’t know of any American trained doctors in Boquete.  There are some doctors that people go to for just minor ailments who charge US $10 per visit and a prescription and you don’t have to have insurance 
 
There are two major hospitals that people use in Boquete; Chiriquí Hospital and Mae Lewis, both in David, less than half an hour from Boquete.  They have some American-trained doctors there. 
 
The doctors here are well trained.  I know people who have had to go to the doctors here and all have all felt very comfortable doing so.  By the way, includes the dentists here. I had seen three different dentists and they have all been very good.  

 

(Smiles at Casa de Montana during a cooking competition, Boquete, Panama,  pictured.)

There are no American-trained doctors specifically in Boquete, but there are professional doctors who provide American-style healthcare in Boquete. Boquete has a public hospital where people can go. There’s no private hospital per se in Boquete, but there are private doctor’s offices and health clinics. 

 

The public hospital in Boquete is cheap, and you can go in and get moderate care services there, but it does not offer an American-style healthcare...

There are no American-trained doctors specifically in Boquete, but there are professional doctors who provide American-style healthcare in Boquete. Boquete has a public hospital where people can go. There’s no private hospital per se in Boquete, but there are private doctor’s offices and health clinics. 

 

The public hospital in Boquete is cheap, and you can go in and get moderate care services there, but it does not offer an American-style healthcare service. In David, which is 25-30 minutes from Boquete, you have several options for an American-style hospital care. This includes ambulance care, which means they’ll come and get you if you’re having a crisis. 

 

My wife and I have six children, so we have experience with the medical care provided during childbirth. Five of our children were born in the United States, and one was born in Hospital Chiriquí in David, just 30 minutes south of Boquete. When my family and I first arrived in Panama, my wife was pregnant with our 6th child. My wife and I chose to have our daughter in the Hospital Chiriquí where we received American-style OB/GYN care and superior anesthesiologist care, both from English-speaking doctors. 

 

My wife had a spinal block that allowed her to keep a feeling sensation, but not an ounce of pain. That means she just went numb on the bottom half of her body, but she could still feel. After the delivery, she got right up and went to use the restroom. The spinal block was an experience that we did not have in the US. 

 

The pediatric care in Hospital Chiriquí has been very good and on a par with the pediatric care in the United States. What was different, though, is the nurturing that we received at Hospital Chiriquí. For example, during the birth process, the anesthesiologist came into our room and never left until the baby was delivered, and the nurses wiped my wife’s face and even braided her hair, which made it a very comforting environment for her. 

 

I was impressed with the doctor’s ability to go from being conversational, cutting up with us and making us feel comfortable, to getting to work and getting right on it. When my wife was in labor and about to give birth, the doctors and nurses did everything on a par with what we would expect in the United States. We felt like our delivery situation as a family was better here in Panama than in the US. 

 

At Hospital Chiriquí, our combined cost of OB/GYN, anesthesiology and pediatric care, our overnight stay at the hospital, food, post-birth care for my wife and our child, it was a total of $2,300 out of pocket. From prenatal care to moving into the delivery room and giving birth, everything cost us just $2,300 out of pocket, with no insurance at all.  That was the entire cost of the childbirth process. 

 

 As an added benefit to that, my little two-year-old girl who was born right here in Panama speaks to us in Spanish just as much as she does in English.  

 

(John Gilbert's daughter playing on the beach at La Barqueta Playa, near David, Chiriqui, Panama, pictured.)