It's when you go to some other country with the intent to get medical treatment due to the procedures being more affordable and available.
You've probably heard of the stories of people going to Mexico, Thailand, and South Korea to get surgeries.
Someone just came in for a psychiatric consult and they were from the UK. By the end of the session, they asked how much it cost expecting a lot, and I said it's free.
That was the first time I heard the expression "Bloody hell! is this real?!". I don't know how much it costs and how long it took for them to get an appointment with their psychiatrist in UK but the dramatic reaction says a lot about how costly and dragging the system can be for people that need these services the most in the most developed country.
I've always thought that physicians in the Philippines are underpaid for rendering the same services that can be found in other developed countries. It's not a difference in skill since our skilled workers can just keep up with the work demands abroad.
I think all professions here are underpaid based on the value they render but things are being adjusted to where we're at (a developing nation).
Talked to a neurosurgeon resident in the past and asked them what textbooks they studied in their foundations in medicine. They answered with the same set of books everyone learns here except translated in Japanese. Their technology also made a whole lot of difference in how things are done but if we're just basing things on academic rounds, we're not that much different.
How does this apply to Psychiatry in the Philippines?
Let's just say mental health care abroad is expensive but people that live their would have a greater purchasing power availing the same services here. On the other hand, people that live here would struggle getting the care they need.
While mental health problems appear on all walks of life, they tend to be worse for marginalized folks. If physical health can prevent one from working, so can mental health disorders except the emphasis is less given how the dysfunction is not something you can quickly see.
TL:DR, mental health care here is cheap, everyone is underpaid for doing the same services they can do abroad, and it sucks to be poor.
Thanks for your time.
