The diagnosis
I shudder to think what could have happened, had she delayed the exam. From what I understand, she was not in a risk group and didn't yet require periodic exams. Not many people will jump through the hoops unless they have been told by a doctor that it is something they <i>need</i> to do.<p>And that's not even counting the heavy procrastinators, such as myself, that will postpone exams even when the doctor asks for them. Which reminds me...<p>In any case, I find the bureoucracy a pain. For most exams, you have to schedule an appointment in advance. Depending on what prompted you to seek medical help in the first place, you might even be feeling better already. Too many times I have been told that there was nothing wrong - no kidding, I was feeling better already.<p>Don't even get me started on how hard it is to find good doctors...<p>I believe we are reaching a point where we have the technology to cure most maladies, but which doesn't do us any good because it is not applied consistently enough, even disregarding economic factors.<p>I guess that's why the Star Trek's sick bay appeals to so many people. It is not hard to envy a future where one just has to walk-in with an obscure disease, get state-of-the-art scans, done by one of the very best doctors, who will not stop until he finds what's wrong. And not go broke afterwards.<p>Yeah, give me that over a transporter any day.