Medical Tourism in Serbia: Our Fascinating Doctor Stories
It was certainly naive of us not to anticipate how different going to the dentist or doctor might be in a different country. We’ve written often about the peculiarities of Serbia, but as two people who are most familiar with US doctors, we had blind spots everywhere. Here are some tips in case you find yourself considering medical tourism in Serbia!
First, prepare for the dentist to be painful to soft American gums. We’ve tried two so far, for simple cleanings. In both cases, they came with good recommendations from friends. In both cases you can rest assured they don’t spend nearly as many resources making sure you have the most pleasant experience at the dentist. There will be no free toothpaste or lollipops at the end of this visit.
The first spot we tried had a scantily dressed dentist in a short jean dress which was buttoned up through the middle and exposed a lot of cleavage. That should have been our first sign that things would be a bit different here. They basically used a street cleaner and a few other gadgets on our teeth which weren’t too painful but did knock out one of my fillings.
After speaking with a colleague who has plenty of nightmarish stories about dentists in Serbia, she recommended one that “saved her mouth”. To be fair, they are a lot more professional. However, they use a small little metal jackhammer to clean out your gums. It is painful and you spit blood at the end. The good news is it’s very quick. The cleaning only takes about 15 or 20 minutes and it’s about $30, so worth the trip even without insurance
What really sold us on this dentist was the time and caution he took with bigger operations. Before this doctor even agreed to operate on me (I have some teeth issues due to a baseball and trash can incident), he sent me to their school of dentistry in Belgrade for a 3D scan of my mouth. I already have one implant so he wanted to make sure he got a good look at the condition of that implant before making any decisions.
This was an experience in and of itself. Absolutely no one in this faculty spoke any English. Personally, I relish these opportunities because I get to put my Serbian to the test, but that might not be ideal for someone looking to do health tourism in Serbia. So, basically they treated me like a mannequin as they oriented my body in this giant standing CT scan.
What’s surprising to us is that very few people in Dentistry or Medicine speak english fluently or at all in Serbia. Maybe we’ve had some bad luck, but it’s sort of incredible since you can stop a random person in the street in Belgrade and expect them to speak amazing English.
If you can look past the serious nature of a doctor’s visit, you’ll probably have some comical moments. A routine annual check-up includes about 3 to 5 different specialists. They are very thorough, not only with blood and urine tests but ultrasounds on everything from your chest to your genitals.
Since English is not their strong suit, medical terms go out the window. When trying to see if I had any STDs or problems sexually the doctor asked me “how’s the fucking?” Another good one was “the big one” referring to stool. The whole experience is crazy enough but factor in the broken English, and it’s hard not to laugh.
Culture also plays an important role here. We don’t claim to be experts, but our guess is that communism left some lasting impressions on Serbia. There is privacy, but it’s seemingly a silly concept when it comes to visiting the doctor. Personally, I laid down with my pants off for 20 minutes while the urologist spoke to me about a great many things having nothing to do with my plumbing.
Similarly, Cristina wasn’t offered a gown or any sort of coverage before being asked by a 30 something male doctor to strip down. On the face of it, this might sound unnerving and it is at first, but a few minutes into it, the nonchalant attitude they take makes you ask yourself if you’re the weird one.
We will also never forget their unique attitudes towards things like a cold draft or women sitting on cold surfaces. One of the most commonly used phrases in Serbian is “promaja kills”. Promaja is the term they use whenever a breeze strikes inside a building or a moving vehicle, and many believe that it can in fact cause serious health risks. Every time we tried to allow air to flow through (particularly during Covid-19 times), we would get some angry looks – and comments!
The idea of a woman sitting down on a cold surface or daring to put ice near her pelvis is unheard of. Cristina pulled a muscle in that region and asked the doctor if she should ice it. Instead of agreeing that it could help, the doctor appeared startled and disturbed, quickly urging her not to. Only later did we learn the reason behind the surprise was due to superstitious beliefs that such crazy action could cause infertility.
All this is just to say that you shouldn’t expect the strange cultural experience to stop at the dentist or the doctor’s office. That’s probably true wherever you go, but it might be more pronounced in the Balkans. It seems that quite a lot of Serbian doctors and dentists leave the country to make more money in the richer Western European nations, explaining the language barrier
We have had our share of funny medical stories, but we are also incredibly thankful for the advice we’ve received from locals. Without them, my teeth would still be a mess or we may have ended up spending 10 times as much back in the US. But it is a tricky sector and there are plenty of horror stories we’ve worked hard to avoid. Cristina for one, if she listened to the doctor would have had her appendix removed for what was in fact a bacterial infection and not appendicitis.
In short, just make sure to ask around (or shoot us a note) before popping your head in for a quick tooth clean.
Lastly, many of the doctors we’ve been to are just part of the MediGroup private network, which is generally reliable. You can call their local number, explain your problem, and you’ll be referred to the specialist. They have clinics all over Belgrade too. But, we have had a few exceptional medical experiences that are worth recommending:
Dentist: Dr. Zoran Vulicevic (part of Vulicevic)
Phone number: +381 65 3972 901
Address: Stevana Jakovljevića 2
Eye doctor: Dr. Dragica Dokic (part of Očna Kuća Vizija)
Phone number: +381 11 323 42 35
Address: Beogradska 53
Gynecologist: Dr Snezana Jankovic (part of MediGroup in Dorcol)
Phone number: +381 11 404 01 00
Address: Cara Dušana 58
Physical therapy: Pavle Pejović (part of ViP Physical)
Phone number: +381 11 428 06 27
Address: Nebojšina 24
Dermatologyst: Dr. Terzic
Phone number: +381(0)11 26 88 282; 36 26 240
Address: Prizrenska 4a
We hope these thoughts are helpful, or at least entertaining. If you do find yourself in a similar position, please do reach out. We’d love to hear it and add it to the list!