Overall this is a great compare and constrast article, but I do have one quibble with it. > In the US, I've always been able to see a specialist within a few d

Overall this is a great compare and constrast article, but I do have one quibble with it. > In the US, I've always been able to see a specialist within a few days. Score one for America. This is really, really heavily dependent on where you live and the number of doctors and specialist doctors in the area. I live in a mid-sized city. If I need to see a typical general practice doctor for a routine problem (coughs, etc.) I can usually be seen the same day, but I'll probably have to wait a 2-4 hours depending on when I go. But if I need to see a specialist (allergist, dermatologist, sleep doctor, etc) and it's not a life-or-death emergency, it's usually a six-week to six month wait for an opening. It literally took six months before I was able to see a dermatologist last year. My only other option is to drive 2 hours away to the next (bigger) city that has a medical school and a large concentration of doctors. Sometimes you can get an appointment in a few days if you're willing to drive. This is actually what I've started doing when I'm referred to a specialist. And if you live in a rural area, even routine medical care can be difficult to come by. Many towns will have a small clinic staffed by a doctor who lives in the community, but often this doctor may have rounds where he covers several communities in a geographic area. So, for instance, he may only be in the office in your nearest town Mondays and Thursdays. So if you need to see a doctor and the local nurses can't handle it, you either have to wait or drive to wherever the doctor is that day. Where I grew up in East Tennessee, we also had a volunteer service called Remote Area Medical [0], which provided free service to very remote areas of Appalachia. I remember going to the Knoxville airport with my Dad once and seeing their DC-3 fueling up for its next trip. [0] https://ramusa.org/ https://ramusa.org/