Hi, my new girlfriend insists that I get tested for STDs. Fine, no problem. However, I don't want this going on my medical record - God knows what kind of problems it could cause in the future. I've had terrible experiences with both Chinese and foreign clinics in the past - incompetent doctors, nosy nurses, etc. Any sort of clinic in Shanghai that does a full battery of tests, competently administered, no questions asked?

^ Isn't that the idea... i.e. "how many people have you slept with", "do you engage in anal", "do you wear protection", "what type of symptoms are you having / had".... sexual history, etc. ?

How else are the docs going to assess the situation ? They don't even have that in the U.S., let alone here in 'nosey' China (where everybody wants to know your business). Didn't you go to get the 'annual health exam' here, where 50 docs & nurses poke and prod you all day and then spend another 4 hours chopping little pieces of paper and writing down little comments on their logs and charts and clipboards ???

TIC - get used to it.

As far as I know I don't have a medical record- how does that work anyway? Who keeps these central records?

Anyway I went to World Link in the Portman where they just took a few blood samples then called me up the same day to tell me the results.

Expensive, but very easy.

DesertSpider wrote:^ Isn't that the idea... i.e. "how many people have you slept with", "do you engage in anal", "do you wear protection", "what type of symptoms are you having / had".... sexual history, etc. ?

How else are the docs going to assess the situation ? They don't even have that in the U.S., let alone here in 'nosey' China

Uh...let's quote from here

Upon arriving at the Clinic, you will be asked to fill out a form with information about yourself and your reasons for coming to the clinic. Your medical records are confidential, meaning no one has access to them except authorized Health Department personnel. On this form, a number will be written. To ensure your confidentiality, you will be called by that number throughout your clinic visit.

Didn't you go to get the 'annual health exam' here, where 50 docs & nurses poke and prod you all day and then spend another 4 hours chopping little pieces of paper and writing down little comments on their logs and charts and clipboards ???

No, I sure didn't. You make the assumption that every single foreigner in China is on the same visa class. We are not. Unless you have something to contribute, please refrain from posting unhelpful comments in the future. Thanks!

Sorry, didn't realize tourists were that interested in hanging around...


Don't worry though, it won't take too long until that burning sensation turns to numbness and it just falls off.


And WTF does NYC have to do with China anyway ?

If you are tested positive for any STD, the PSB is automatically notified and you are booted out.

Based on visa type and coming from the USA, I was able to do my health check in the USA, then just visit the official health office here and turn in the results. I used a very, very reputable hospital which may have helped.

vellocet wrote:Uh...let's quote from here

Upon arriving at the Clinic, you will be asked to fill out a form with information about yourself and your reasons for coming to the clinic. Your medical records are confidential, meaning no one has access to them except authorized Health Department personnel. On this form, a number will be written. To ensure your confidentiality, you will be called by that number throughout your clinic visit.

1. WTF does a NYC clinic website have to do with a medical examination in China?

2. Medical facilities are required to report to the PSB any positive STD test results on foreigners.

No, I sure didn't. You make the assumption that every single foreigner in China is on the same visa class. We are not. Unless you have something to contribute, please refrain from posting unhelpful comments in the future. Thanks!

Are you on an "R" visa?

underh20 wrote: Are you on an "R" visa?

"R" means retarded in this particular usage.... just so we've all got that cleared up.

^ $hit, Spidey, you should've let me sandbag the moron.

Sorry, the 'set 'em up, knock 'em down' tag team was working fairly well there.... needed to take the gloves off for a minute. Oh well, back to normal crap now.

I've heard this before about people getting kicked out for positive STD tests, but does anyone have any genuine evidence of this?

I mean, I can understand this for HIV for example, but what about treatable diseases? I knew someone who contracted gonorrhoea once (at least I think that's what it was, I'm no doctor...), and I can't imagine the PSB was informed.

To work on a Z visa, from what I remember you need a negative HIV test, and also something like no hepatitis I think.

I'd have thought that as long as the OP reckons he's unlikely to be HIV-positive, it shouldn't be that much of a risk getting tested. Though I imagine the swabbing will be fun...

underh20 wrote:2. Medical facilities are required to report to the PSB any positive STD test results on foreigners.

nothing a little hongbao cant fix.

what about for STI's (just curious)? do they report those too?

Jimmy_Floyd wrote:I've heard this before about people getting kicked out for positive STD tests, but does anyone have any genuine evidence of this?

I mean, I can understand this for HIV for example, but what about treatable diseases? I knew someone who contracted gonorrhoea once (at least I think that's what it was, I'm no doctor...), and I can't imagine the PSB was informed.

To work on a Z visa, from what I remember you need a negative HIV test, and also something like no hepatitis I think.

I'd have thought that as long as the OP reckons he's unlikely to be HIV-positive, it shouldn't be that much of a risk getting tested. Though I imagine the swabbing will be fun...

AKAIK the blood work for your medical examination only tests for HIV & hepatitis.

I do know of cases were expats went to one of the larger hospitals and they were reported to the PSB for having the clap. They were all given a few days to leave the country.

Isn't the clap gonorrhoea? Again, I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure it's curable with a course of antibiotics. Seems a bit harsh to be deporting people over it, especially as I'd imagine it must be rampant somewhere like Shanghai...

Anyway, good to know I guess.

Jimmy_Floyd wrote:Isn't the clap gonorrhoea? Again, I'm no doctor, but I'm pretty sure it's curable with a course of antibiotics. Seems a bit harsh to be deporting people over it, especially as I'd imagine it must be rampant somewhere like Shanghai...

Anyway, good to know I guess.

Yup.

And they'll also give you the boot for syph.

I think it's a little ironic that you can get kicked out for a disease one probably caught from a local girl.

underh20 wrote:If you are tested positive for any STD, the PSB is automatically notified and you are booted out.

I was told by a hospital that they don't disclose the records of foreigners. The nurse who told me this had worked in another foreign hospital where this was also true. I think this might be a case where there is some variation between the law and common practice.

mswp wrote:

underh20 wrote:If you are tested positive for any STD, the PSB is automatically notified and you are booted out.

I was told by a hospital that they don't disclose the records of foreigners. The nurse who told me this had worked in another foreign hospital where this was also true. I think this might be a case where there is some variation between the law and common practice.

What they do and what they are supposed to do are two different things.

Then again, why believe a nurse in a Chinese hospital? If it's a public hospital, then the real boss is the Party secretary and I doubt he'd think twice before ordering the PSB informed.

I've known a couple of foreigners who went to hospital because of STD's, none were sent back home. One if I remember correctly had to go to hospital a couple of days a week to be put on a drip for a while but otherwise nothing. Might be a case of "it depends who you get on the day" when you go to get it checked out.

It just depends on if they follow the rules.

STD's can be a very scary thing. Especially in China. I will tell every body my personal experience. I got really drunk and slept with the wrong girl with out any protection. Then next week it burned when i peed and there was a discharge coming from my penis. I was scared to death of getting kicked out of the county. I need to get my z visa next month. I run my own school with a Chinese partner. I tried calling friends that knew doctors and was about to fly across the country to see a friends doctor. I waited for 5 days and it just kept getting worse. The drip got more constant and the skin around the head of my penis started to swell. I would wake up in the middle of the night when my natural erection time was and my swollen penis was aching inside my underwear. I lost a lot of sleep and figured it would only get worse. I didn't want any irreversible effects. I decided i cant wait any longer. And you should not ever wait any amount of time. Just go to the hospital. I don't know if they are supposed to report it or not. But I wasn't going to find out. Here is what it did, and my plan once I got there. I went to the hospital. I did not bring my visa or any kind of identification. When filling out the form in the place where it asked for my name I put my Chinese name. If you don't have one you should create one. They can be used for many things and never traced back to you. My name is Mike. My Chinese name is 迈克 mai ke. They asked me where I worked. I told them that it is a English training school not to far from here, but it has a Chinese name and I don't know how to pronounce it. I can speak Chinese very good but this day no Chinese came out of my mouth. This day i played the stupid foreigner card. Any big hospital will have people that speak English and for my health I trust there English a lot more than my Chinese. The sent me to the 6th floor to see this doctor, 4th floor to do tests, 5th floor for what ever and I spent about 6 hours wandering through this maze that they call a hospital. Going from this room to that room to this floor to that floor. If at any time in this process they would have needed my real name or passport number or any thing I would have given them a fake and if I would have gotten too suspicious that something bad was going to happen I would have told them that I was thirsty and need to get a bottle of coke. At that point I would have left and gone to the next hospital and tried the same thing. But nothing ever happened. The most personal information I gave up was my cell phone number. 6 hours later and about 900 元 later I got a big shot in my a**, 6 boxes of pills and I was out the door. In a few days I will be all better. So my advice never chance your STD getting worse. and why chance having any visa problems. Do it like i did and you should be fine. There will be a hospital some where that doesn't need personal information. If the first hospital does need personal information then just try the next one.

As far as I am aware you cannot get a work permit if you have an STD, but you can after it's cured.
Think about all the tourists and business visa folks who dont have health tests....doh

I think it's a way of screening that longer term Work Permit guys are required to be free of STD's when the visa is issued. If you catch it after that, sure the hospital may report you to the PSB but only if you refused treatment or did not return for follow up exams.

maike 25 wrote:I need to get my z visa next month. I run my own school with a Chinese partner.

You say you still need to get your Z visa next month, but you are currently running a properly licensed and fully legal school as partner in a JV? Sounds totally legit to me!