My experience with this doctor was quite different from any doctor visit in the States. I was…read morepretty sure I had a sinus infection, which caused copious post nasal drip, which in turn made me cough all night. I hoped time would heal, but a sleepless red-eye and little rest due to relentless sightseeing made things worse. I emailed the doctor with my (amateur) self-diagnosis and asked for an appointment. He responded quickly and I saw him a few hours later.
When he examined me, there were none of the usual procedures that my primary care physician would do: no temperature-taking, no blood pressure measurement. He did not look in my ears or nose with an otoscope. He used a flash light to look at my throat, sans tongue-depressor. Then he used a stethoscope, told me to cough three times, and proclaimed that I had bronchitis in addition to a sinus infection.
From there, he began writing an Rx (pre-printed with a few medicines listed). I was confused because he didn't ask me more questions about my medical background, so I told him that I have allergies. He looked up at me from his writing, I told him my two antibiotic allergies, and he replied, "You just saved your own life" as he crumpled the scrip he was writing for penicillin. From there, he wrote a new one (on a different pre-printer sheet), explained the dosage instructions, and made me repeat them to him to check my comprehension.
I walked out the door with an Rx for a different antibiotic and something like prednisone (!). We walked north to the pharmacy he suggested (and past what certainly were two old, tired-looking prostitutes on St. Denis) and got them filled. To my surprise, the medicines were cheap! (Socialized medicine?)
I would give this doctor...3.5 stars because I still don't know if he is a quack. HOWEVER, I do know that within *a couple of hours* I felt SO much better. And I continued to get better. It felt like a miracle.
In the end, this visit was worth the €100 cash: it wholly redeemed what started out as a crummy vacation.