The Medical Exam You Need for Auxiliares de Conversación


As an auxiliar de conversación or language assistant, I have to apply for a long-term student visa at the Consulate of Spain in the Philippines. It’s a standard for all visa types exceeding 6-month stay in Spain to have the applicant submit a medical certificate. In this blog, I’d like to give details on what specific medical tests are needed for language assistants and my personal experiences on the medical clinic I went to.

What medical certificate do I need

According to BLS Spain, the third-party agency that processes Spain visa, the medical certificate must be: 
.... (done at any DOH accredited hospital or clinic) indicating the non-existence of diseases that may have a serious effect on public health, according to International Sanitary Regulations of 2005 (authenticated by the Department of Foreign Affairs) (validity 3 months from date of issuance)

To get this medical certificate, of course I had to undergo a few medical tests. At first, I was unsure where to go as there’s no list of accredited clinics by the Consulate and BLS Spain. There’s only a list of DOH-accredited clinics. Also, it’s quite vague on what specific medical tests are needed since it only states I have to be proven free of those diseases per International Sanitary Regulations of 2005.

After reading blogs and joining Facebook groups, I noticed most of the previous Filipino language assistants went to this medical clinic in Makati City: Angelus Medical Clinic Inc. (AMCI). Luckily, I live in the same city, but since I did it during the general community quarantine (GCQ), transportation was a challenge. There were no jeepneys at all, so I had to walk from my house to the clinic! (A for effort besh! Good exercise though!)

Medical exam package FAQs

When I inquired with AMCI (via email), I told them I’m a language assistant / student going to Spain. They’re very familiar with it, and they call this package as Spain - private. Here are basic details about this medical package:

Price: 3,300 PHP (+ 250 PHP for female patients for the pregnancy test)

The DOH authentication is already included in the price. This also means AMCI is the one that brings the medical documents to DOH.

Tests included: X-ray, CBC (thru blood extraction), urinalysis (to be collected at the clinic), dental, optical, physical examination, medical history taking, HIV, RPR (Syphilis), Hepa B screening, basic psychological test, blood typing, drug test: meth/cannabis

Is fasting required? No

Is stool sample submission required? No, but it’s optional. If you opt not to, there’s this test done where you have to swab a little from your anus with a cotton bud. You do it yourself, so it’s okay. It’s meant for the stool examination.

How long before the results are out? 1-2 AMCI business days (Note: AMCI operates Monday-Thursday only)

How long does the DOH authentication take? 3-5 DOH business days (Note: DOH operates Monday-Friday only) 

When to go for a medical and how to set an appointment

As required by the Consulate, the medical certificate and results must be done and issued 3 months upon visa application. For example, if the visa appointment is in August, you can safely take the medical in June. 

Pre-pandemic days, patients could easily go to AMCI as walk-ins. But starting June 2020, appointment is required at least one week before the intended day of medical exam. To book an appointment, I sent them an email. I was asked for my full name, birthday, mobile number, and date of intended medical exam. They replied with the confirmation and 2 PDF files. The first contains general guidelines (Just ignore the fasting part. Again, no need for fasting). The second is a health declaration form, which I filled up, printed, and brought on my exam day.

At times, AMCI couldn't reply via email right away. Just be patient (..and channel the Stormi in you, hehe).

How the medical tests went

I was advised to arrive at around 9-10AM, but I decided to go as early as 8AM, which was better because there were very few people only. Considering the pandemic, I usually opt for less crowd. Also, I brought my own pen for sanitary reasons.

At the entrance, my temperature was checked. Also, of course, I had to wear a face mask. I was also asked by the guard to look for my name in the appointment list. My name wasn’t there, so I just showed the health declaration form.
Next, I went to the 2nd floor for the registration and payment. Since I noticed most of the test goers there are OFWs / seamen under an agency and they have different requirements, I made sure to specify in the forms I filled up that I’m a “student” (if company is asked) and “private” (if agency is asked). As for the payment, I paid in cash (I’m not sure if credit card and debit card are accepted).

Then, I went to the 4th floor for blood extraction, biometrics, x-ray, dental, optical, and basic psychological test, and specimen sample. I listed it in the order I went through them. Each test has their respective rooms or areas. I just placed my papers in the basket in front of each room or area, then they called my name. To save time, when the queue was long in a specific test, I went to another test. Here’s a personal experience on each test:

Blood extraction: It took awhile for the med tech to extract blood, but it’s because my arm veins are deep. I’m so used to this, kaya sanay na ko masaktan (hugot besh? LOL)

Biometrics: They simply got my fingerprints. Don’t forget to sanitize hands after.

X-ray: They provided a gown and rubber band to tie my hair. 

Dental: The dentist just checked if there’s a need for prophylaxis (teeth cleaning) and filling (pasta)

Optical: The ophthalmologist just let me read letters with each eye covered

Basic psychological test: This is the test that took me the longest (45 minutes, I think). It wasn’t really difficult, but there were many items. The test consists of an IQ test (with shapes and patterns where you have to do odd man out), personality test (true or false type), and essay test.  

Specimen sample: The staff gave me a cotton bud in a small test tube to swab a little from my anus. Also, I was given 2 empty plastic bottles to collect my urine: one has to be full (for the drug test), while the other is half only (for urinalysis). I had to leave my bag outside the toilet cubicle, so I brought padlock to secure my belongings.

I’ve been through a lot of these urine sampling before (for pre-employment tests and annual checkups), and I always hate this part (LOL) because I can’t pee a lot! Sadly, there’s no free water dispenser at AMCI, so I had to go to a nearby Mini Stop to buy a liter of water (yes, going out while doing the tests is allowed). 

Next, I went to the 5th floor for the medical history taking. This includes getting my blood pressure, height, and weight. After that, I went to a closed room for physical examination. The female doctor instructed me to unclothe (except the underwear) for breast examination and hemorrhoid check (I had to bend down and squeeze my butt outward for her to check if I have almoranas). The doctor was very professional and I felt safe throughout this physical exam. 

That's it. Overall, it took me 4 hours to finish all the tests. Sanitation wise, the clinic was good, like the staff are wearing proper PPEs and alcohols are everywhere.

When did I get the results 

Since I’m tagged as private (not with an agency), I had to follow up the results myself either via email, text, or their Facebook page. I did the tests on July 2 (Thursday), and my results were out on July 6 (Monday). Since all my tests were okay, they were brought straight to DOH for authentication.

I waited for another 5 business days. On July 13 (Monday), I texted AMCI and got the confirmation that my results were back from DOH. I was told to go after lunch (they only operate until 3PM) with the receipt. Results are claimed at the records section (2nd floor). I filled up a small sheet of paper and in a few minutes, I got the papers.
The papers consist of:
Medical certificate (with the DOH dry seal)

An additional paper with AMCI’s declaration of non-existence of diseases. This is a pahabol document that should’ve been in the medical certificate too. While my papers were at DOH already, AMCI added this part, so it doesn’t have the DOH dry seal. Anyway, I just attached it to the medical certificate. 

Five-page medical results. These don’t have the DOH dry seal. As explained by AMCI, since I’m tagged as a student (not as an OFW), DOH only authenticates my medical certificate. So as not to have any problems with DFA Apostille, I stapled the medical certificate and medical results altogether. Note that the Consulate requires the medical results to have an Apostille too, so make sure it's attached to the medical certificate.

Other details

Angelus Medical Clinic Inc.
Address: 1730 Dian Street, Barangay Palanan, Makati City 1235
Email address: crd.mle@angelusmed.com (for inquiries and appointment)
Mobile: +63917 575 3210
Phone: (632) 8288 7927
Operating Hours: 7AM-3PM, Monday-Thursday

Aside from this clinic, there are other medical facilities around Metro Manila, Cebu, and Davao that do medical tests for language assistants. The 2020-2021 batch of Filipino language assistants created a medical master list for it (special thanks to Tet, a language assistant batchmate, for collating this!). The same list contains guide for NBI clearance, apostille, visa, apartment hunting, and other details needed by language assistants. 

Are you an incoming language assistant? Do you find this blog helpful? 





The Medical Exam You Need for Auxiliares de Conversación The Medical Exam You Need for Auxiliares de Conversación Reviewed by Shelly Viajera Travel on 17.7.20 Rating: 5

10 comments:

  1. Hello ma'am I found your blog very helpful. I want to ask if those hospitals or clinic under DoH accredited is ok for medical certificate?base on the pdf you included. Kahit akin Doon po? Thank you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi. Yes, if it's in the list of DOH, it's accredited and can issue a medical certificate.

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  2. Hi! Thank you for all your helpful tips! I'm not sure if I skipped this detail in your blog, but does the Medical Certificate have an "expiration date" like the NBI clearance (3 months for the NBI clearance, right?)? I'm just not sure how early should the medical exams be booked. Thank you in advance!

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  3. Thank you so much ,this was such a great help for me. This blog answers all my question in mind. Thank you for sharing, don't stop helping others by sharing your experience. Godbless you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! The medical certificate and results must be done and issued 3 months upon visa application. For example, if the visa appointment is in August, you can safely take the medical in June.

      Delete
  4. Hi! Thank you for this post, and the rest of your Aux blogs. I'm not really sure if you're the right person to ask but have you heard of a Pinoy Aux or do you personally know one who has lung scarring but was successful with their ministry and visa applications? I'm going over IHR (2005) and I think there is no list of "diseases that may have serious effect on public health" in the document. Thank you so much!

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    Replies
    1. Hi, sorry I don't know anyone with that medical finding. Best of luck.

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  5. Hi is your documents have to be translated into spanish?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi! During my time, translation wasn't required. However, now, the medical results have to be translated to Spanish by a sworn translator.

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