After nearly a decade overseas, first, as a graduate student in London and later as an educator in Asia and Europe, I decided it was finally time to go back to the USA and repatriate myself for good. The one fear that I could not shake was the idea of coming back to deal with the dreaded US healthcare system. Overseas, I remember a barrage of government emails bombarding my inbox with “solutions” for not being covered with health insurance. 

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Living the last four years in Spain had spoiled me. I could walk into virtually any clinic in Madrid and receive the service that I needed without my wallet falling apart. All of my memories of health care in the USA were…not that.

I do not go to the doctor often, but when I do, I, like everyone else, am usually in and out. Not because I want to be, but because time with patients for most doctors is not only limited but controlled. After spending so much money on healthcare, you would never think that your doctor may spend more time with a computer than you, but it’s true. Between seeing family pushed out of urgent care rooms to having an 11-minute lightning round “appointment” with the doctor myself, the patient experience for me had always been far beyond optimal. I was not alone in this thought.

In my last few months abroad, I found out that I had a uterine polyp that needed removal. It was done weeks after diagnosis. It was a quick and painless procedure that was paid for, which eased some of my qualms, but I found my list of health issues growing. A polyp here, dysmenorrhea there, and now a cyst. As my list began to grow, so did my worry for finding accessible health care upon return to the USA. Even if I did have some things taken care of, I knew it would need to be monitored and that walking into a clinic for a reasonably low fee with decent quality was not a guarantee. “What if I want just a basic checkup? Why should I have to suffer through a fever, back pain, or a headache? Where can I get Primary Care? How ridiculous will my copay be? How long will I have to wait for an appointment?” I thought about what to do if I needed an employment physical. I had so many questions bombard my mind that I didn’t even know where to begin. As my head swirled thinking of what I could do, I decided to let the questions rest for now.

Fast forward to July 3, 2019. I finally had an experience that I did not know was possible in the United States. After becoming an employee at Shankx Web Development in San Antonio, Texas, I realized I was now a member of a Direct Primary Care clinic called Direct Med Clinic. At Direct Med Clinic, urgent care, primary care, and occupational medicine were now all tangible and available to me at affordable prices.

Eager to get a checkup, I emailed my new doctor and was told to schedule an appointment for the following day at 2:00 PM. “Is this even real? I don’t remember ever being able to make an appointment for the following day. I didn’t even know doctors had real emails that real patients could send.” The entire concept was utterly foreign to me. Nevertheless, I agreed to have this mysteriously good sounding doctor’s appointment.

I walked in the next day to Direct Med Clinic to have my appointment with Marlene Palit, RN and Roger Moczygemba, MD/MHA. Everything that I had learned about more time with patients, clearer promises, and better patient experience with Direct Primary Care held up. Every. Single. Word.

As I swiped my card for $10, I just could not believe this was actually happening.

I was greeted at the front desk as I signed in, sat, and waited to be seen. As I swiped my card for $10, I just could not believe this was actually happening. I sat down and picked up a magazine as I heard gentle voices in the background. I later met all of the staff and was shown around the small but comfortable clinic. The San Antonio Fiesta pictures covered the warmly painted maroon walls, and everyone seemed to be….happy. My vitals were taken, and I sat down to be called shortly. I met Marlene Palit, RN who was professional but warm. I later met with Dr. Moczygemba, who after examining me, was honest in his approach but asked my personal opinion about what I wanted. This had never happened to me. I had never been asked my input as a patient from a doctor. I had never spent more than 15 minutes with my nurse and doctor. I had never been educated on my condition in such a way that involved me telling about my own experiences in detail.

I could tell that both Nurse Palit and Dr. Moczygemba were genuinely interested and more importantly, although professional, they actually cared to make connections with their patients. I was over the moon! The energy in the room was so positive that I was actually excited to come back for another visit. Finally, walking into a clinic for a reasonably low fee with excellent quality was more than a pipe dream. I have a subscription to my doctor. A doctor who I can actually access, and who believes in restoring the patient-doctor relationship. I encourage everyone to make the switch to Direct Primary Care and to become a member at Direct Med Clinic. You won’t regret it!