Navigating the Medical System in Ukraine

We have had some interesting experiences with the medical system here in Ukraine in the past 2 years we have lived here. Nothing crazy, just different due to a different culture, different way of doing things, different language etc...
But, with baby #2 on the way, we realized that even though we thought we knew how to navigate the system- we really have no idea what we are doing or how to do it.
I will just give you some interesting examples:
- in the US, your doctor's office keeps a file/chart about you; in Ukraine, the patient keeps their own chart and is expected to bring it to every visit (one time I forgot to bring Solomiya's chart and the doctor could not do anything, we had to make a new appointment).
- in the US, you wait in a waiting room for the nurse to tell you that the doctor is ready to see you; in Ukraine, you have to find out which room the doctor is in, figure out which people are "in line" ahead of you and if no people are there, you knock on the door and let the doctor know you are there to see him/her ( I still cannot get used to just knocking on the doctor's door and letting them know I am there); if the doctor is not there, you sit and wait for them- 5 mins, 30 mins or 2 hours
- in the US, the doctor's office will work with your insurance company for payment or you pay yourself; in Ukraine, if you go to a private clinic you pay one set price before you see the doctor, but if you go to a government clinic, you do not officially pay (unless it is for something specific they charge for, like an x-ray), but you give a "thank you gift" to the doctor/nurse or they may even ask you for money so that you receive "extra special care" ( we do not mind this because if the doctor was good, giving him 50r seems like the right thing to do- we have heard that medical workers do not get paid well).
- need supplies for your visit? In the US they are right there in the office; in Ukraine, the doctor/nurse tells you what you need, you go to the pharmacy and buy them and then come back to finish the appointment (thankfully, there are pharmacys ALL over the place- I am not kidding); we recently experienced this with Solomiya: she needed a plaster cast for a tibial fracture, so Mike went to the pharmacy in the middle of our appointment to buy the supplies the doctor needed to make it.
- in the US, if your insurance company lets you, you can make appointments with whomever you want; in Ukraine, it's all about who you know. If you know someone who knows someone who works at this place or that place, you will most likely receive better and faster care and be able to jump to the front of the line. This has happened to us on many occasions! Thank God!
Disclaimer: these are my own observations and opinions based on what we have gone through.

I would like to leave you with a few pictures:
- some of the decor in the patient bathroom at a private clinic (a jar of colorful pills and some unknown amber liquid in a beaker)
- our little patient in her cast