Medical tourism is also called medical travel or health tourism. It is a term created by travel agencies and the mass media to describe the rapidly growing practice of traveling to another country to obtain health care. Medical tourism usually includes elective procedures as well as specialized surgeries such as joint replacement, cardiac surgery, dental surgery and cosmetic surgeries. Medical tourism actually dates back thousands of years when pilgrims would travel hundreds of miles to bath in mineral water. Because of the high cost of health care and the long waiting times for certain procedures, medical travel is increasing in popularity. Many countries that wouldn't otherwise have been considered good places to go for surgery, have improved their technology and standards of care. You can wait for a year or more to get your hip or knees replaced in Canada so why not go to some other country if you can afford it. To add to the appeal of medical travel, often times people can have their surgery within a day or two of getting there.
