Going abroad for care is also a reasonable choice for patients who want care not available to them locally. Some hip resurfacing procedures, for example, have been performed in India for years but have only recently been approved in the United States. The use of silicone gel breast implants, sought by many cosmetic surgery patients, has been restricted for years in the United States but they are widely available in the rest of the world. Procedures related to fertility, stem cell research and organ transplantation also draw a number of patients from all over the world.

Finally, medical tourism can be an option worth considering for those in countries with what many call "rationed" health care, particularly Canada and the United Kingdom. Though both countries have national health care, there can be a lengthy wait for procedures and surgeries that are classified as non emergency. In the UK and Canada, this inconvenient forced wait is applicable to a large number of orthopedic surgeries that cause great pain and require extensive wait times before local health care is made available to patients.

Is Medical Tourism safe?

Generally, when people ask if going abroad for surgery is "safe," (and they do ask it, just that way) what they really want to know is "Is it as safe as if I went to my local doctor or hospital?" And the short answer is that "Yes, it is probably just about as safe" - with the provision that the patient does his or her homework, picks a good doctor or surgeon and facility and plans the trip wisely.