First things first - the doctor was fine with checking the photocopy of my currently-away-being-renewed passport in combination with my actual driving licence.
Also, I didn't need to worry about bringing medical records with me, as the doctor didn't need them. I guess they might be helpful if you have health issues to explain or if you're emigrating through another route where they need to check if you will put "excessive demand" on the Canadian healthcare system. Spousal sponsorship is exempt from that - hmm... are there any operations I fancy? :)
Ladies - she did ask about my last smear test and I was able to tell her the date, so maybe look up your diary before you go.
The doctor apologised that "a lot of today will be me filling in forms", but I just told her it was nice that someone else was doing them for a change!
The CIC website doesn't have an official copy of the medical form for you to download, as they send it directly to the doctors (or the applicants using different routes), but I've managed to find one on a random website, if you want to see what they asked.
Examination
The doctor asked loads of questions about my medical history - operations, illnesses, alcohol use etc. She also asked about smoking and had to use an online calculator to work out my "pack years" (I gave up a couple of years ago).
She checked my weight, height and blood pressure, as you'd expect. She also checked my vision, but only my "corrected" vision - cue me getting all cocky about being able to dash right through to the bottom of the chart for a change!
The hearing test was hilarious - she just whispered numbers to me, while covering her mouth so I couldn't lip-read. I thought she was going to do a whole series of numbers, so waited after the first one. When she said "22" again, but sounding a bit worried, I cottoned on!
She felt all the glands around my jaw and neck and listened to my heart and lungs. She asked about any skin growths, birth marks, tattoos etc, then checked the mole I mentioned.
Lying down on the examination table, she got me to move my legs about - pushing against her - and checked reflexes in my feet, which felt more like tickling to me! Back at my seat, I had to use my hands to push and pull hers, then shrug my shoulders. Apparently, all of this is to check you haven't had a stroke or anything.
Off to the loo to give my urine sample - bet you're glad I shared that! She checked it with dipsticks for blood and sugar. Then finally, a blood sample, which will be sent off for testing for HIV and syphilis - lovely!
The whole thing was very thorough, but only took about 45 minutes. As I was leaving, she said it was lovely when you get someone "young, fit and healthy", as you can just rattle through the forms fairly quickly. I think that's the first time I've been called any of those things for years!
X-rays
The next day, I went for my x-rays at the hospital. I've never had an x-ray before, so was a bit excited about this bit (such a child), but it was an incredibly quick process - the majority of my time in the building was walking to and from the x-ray department and the general office to pay!
The actual procedure was just striping from the waist up and putting on a lovely hospital robe, then standing up against the x-ray plate. Seriously, apart from finding where I was going and paying, I was in and out in 15 minutes.
Done!
So, that's it! Once the x-rays and blood test results arrive at the medical practice, they'll be sent off with my examination forms and that'll be me officially on the Canadian immigration system. I'd best get the rest of my forms finished and sent off, so they have something to match the medical up with!
Also, that's the countdown to our "landing" trip started - we'll be having a holiday to Vancouver in the next 12 months. Yay!
Checklist - 1 2 3 4
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