There was blood in my cough. The doctor, in India, after a basic analysis concluded that it is a minor infection. On my insistence, he decided to do an X-Ray. 5 minutes later, I had the X-ray in my hand. The staff asked me to wait outside the surgery room as the doctor was busy with a surgery during that time.

10 minutes later, the doctor came out, quickly analyzed my X-ray scan and concluded that my concern about something more severe was unfounded.

In the United States, this would have been three different appointments of 30 minutes each.

United States has 2.6 doctors per 1000 people. India has 0.9 doctors per 1000 people.

The per capita number is grossly misleading as for common ailments, a doctor in India is at least 10-20 times more efficient/productive than a doctor in the United States.

Rarely do I see the doctor’s efficiency being discussed in the common discourse.