Julie Munro's Page

The escalation of superlatives in medical tourism is spiraling to ridiculous heights. Not only do we now have global healthcare - formerly the purview of such august institutions as the World Health Organization, and well-financed philanthropic organizations like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

We now have a medical tourism research center. It's about time, I thought, when I first read of it. Let's get some real studies done. Let's track some real data. Let's put an end to these crazy nu… Continue

Heard a new word on the latest TV show about doctors, Royal Pains. “Cyberchondriac” is the new healthcare consumer who reads up on his/her symptoms on the internet and self-diagnoses. In the extreme, the cyberchondriac will even tell the doctor how to treat the condition. The root of the word, of course, comes from hypochondriac – a person who believes he suffers from imaginary illness or symptoms.

What a perfect word for a condition that is familiar to any medical travel facilitator who’s been… Continue

If you haven’t yet read Ian Youngman’s article in the latest issue of the International Medical Travel Journal, I urge you to do so.

He asks, What happened to those 2008 medical tourism forecasts? Even the most conservative prediction of 1,6 million medical tourists – more than double 2007 numbers – seems outrageously high.

It suggests that the airline indus… Continue