Travel Vaccine Clinic

I’ve gone to the Travel Vaccine Clinic three times in the last six years, and I’ve always had a great experience. The first time I saw Dr. Doidge, and the second and third times I saw Dr. Angelov, and both of them were extremely informative; they explained the different issues and risks very clearly, equipped me to make my own decisions about what vaccines to take and not take, and even offered to fax changes to the prescriptions to my pharmacy if I changed my mind about any of the prescriptions I wanted to take. Given the patience and thoroughness with which they explained things, the consultation rate ($ 45) seems extremely reasonable. The people working at the desk were also helpful, efficient, and friendly.

The one star rate is because they make you wait FOR SO LONG. The service itself is not bad and the staff are relatively nice, but they have no respect or consideration for the customers valuable time. I waited for more than hour and got a few minutes consultation only. It seems to be the norm rather than the exception.

I am currently in the waiting room. We’ve been here for two hours and have only so far experienced the initial up selling that other reviewers have mentioned. We’re not even close to seeing the Dr. Or getting the actual vaccines from the nurse.
Ah! And I almost forgot that a woman with an appointment after ours was seen before us and has long since left.
I appreciate that it’s Saturday but they should explain when you book that it is going to be a two hour appointment… at least.

Let me preface this with the fact that I’ve been to other travel clinics before for travel to the same destination that I am currently planning on revisiting. I had quick and easy experiences that last time and got all the vaccines I needed.
Our trip to the Travel Vaccine Clinic can be summed up in 2 words — overcomplicated and pushy.
During your trip you can expect to be corralled during this 3 part «journey». That’s right, it’s 3 parts.
Part 1 — First you see some man, who I don’t believe is a doctor but an ‘expert’. He’ll tell you about all your options and try to sway you into getting vaccines. He’s a gentle man and will only make a slight suggestion. If this was the whole visit I’d be a happy camper.
Part 2 — Next you get to wait in the waiting room. When you’re lucky enough you get brought in to see the doctor. The doctor will make recommendations again. I found him to be incredibly pushy. Not only do they push your typical travel vaccines they attempt to get you to ‘top-​up’ your older immunizations from child hood. Why you ask? Not quite sure! They do cite some pretty credible reasoning behind why you need these extra, non-​travel related vaccines — «the government thinks it’s a good idea» and «because I’m a doctor so you should trust me.» Drives me nuts.
Part 3 — Now you get to go back out in the waiting room. After another wait you get brought back to a nurse and she jabs you with needles. I was expecting this and I can say this part was probably the most satisfactory and expected part of the experience. She was wonderful with the immunizations. No pain there.
All in all I found this place to be plain old pushy. No one should be made to feel as they need to make decisions about their non-​essential travel related vaccines on the spot in a TRAVEL CLINIC.
Front desk people were fine. Nurse was fine. That’s all really.
Really wasn’t impressed.

Don’t waste your time here. I had an appointment and showed up on time. Filled out the necessary forms. I waited half an hour. I could hear the doctor talk loudly on the phone through his door. Just go to your family doctor or walk-​in clinic. I had to leave because I was on my lunch break.

Disclosure: This review is based off 1 call — Basically, the receptionist told me there was a fee of $ 67 for just the consult. He mentioned that it could be $ 200 – 300 for all the shots I would require. I have to assume he was performing an act of magic — how the heck does he know what I need when the doc hasn’t even seen me!
Anyhow, I’m going to try Medisys instead. They have a deal on couples and are at least $ 15 cheaper than these guys for the consult.

Fear is a wonderful selling point.
As you sit in the waiting room trying your best not to look up at medical-​looking posters that warn you about a virtual ten-​plagues of disease that you’re certain to encounter on your journey, you slowly become oblivious to the ridiculous price of this service.
You become afraid enough that you become convinced that you need these sugar pills.
A few hundred dollars is a relatively small insurance policy to avoid having the skin-​melting-​off condition or the brain-​turning-​to-​maggot illness or any of the other modern day horrors that apparently exist. You’re not going to be the one idiot who tries to prove them wrong.
They seem to know what they’re doing.
I didn’t get ebola on my trip.
Yet.

First of all, I rarely write reviews. It is only when I am pressed to a point of being completely in love or completely annoyed that I decide to review a place. This brings me to the Toronto Travel Clinic.
I received vaccines from them about a year ago. Everything went fine for sure. I did experience the same «upselling» the other reviewer mentioned. The gentleman who runs the business spends a lot of time filling your head with every single possible infection you could get in the countries that you’ll be traveling to. I travel A LOT… been to over 30 countries in the last ten years. It seemed to me that the specialist (if you can call him that) had never even made it over the border. I managed to leave with just what I wanted… my friends (who have never been to Asia before) were scared into getting a lot more than needed (and paying handsomely for it).
Now that was a year ago. Why I write now is because I needed to get a record of my immunizations from them recently, and so it meant dealing with them again. I have emailed asking for my record. Waited. Waited. Got a response but record. Then I called. Was kept on hold for 15mins. Hung up. Called again. On hold again. Hung up. Before they put me on hold, I tried to stop them but the girl did not even bother to see who it was and just put me on hold. Finally, after calling back three more times, some answers… of course she is rude and has an attitude. You would think after having explained that I had been on hold for so long, you’d get a little more understanding! Nope.
I don’t know if there are other places to get vaccinated in Toronto, but trust me, go somewhere else. Unprofessional, inconsiderate, and complete salesmen in the worst way.

For those headed to exotic destinations, do you know what kind of Infectious Diseases you might be exposed to? The Travel Clinic on Queen East, specializes in international travel medicine and can provide you with a handout on possible risks found in your destination.
If you go to your regular doctor for a prescription for travel-​related vaccines, they are required by OHIP to charge you for that visit. Your regular doctor probably doesn’t know the rates of Malaria in Thailand vs South Africa, but you’ll be paying for them to look it up.
At the Travel Clinic on Queen East, call ahead to make an appointment. Just because you are paying don’t expect gold-​plated, walk-​in service. Appointments can generally be made within a week.
But, plan ahead, sometimes you need multiple doses of vaccine given a month apart, before you depart.
Once you arrive, the waiting room is entirely too small, and the layout is awkward. In the cramped space, you fill out a 3 page form on your risk factors, destination and medical history and provide them with your vaccination history. BRING YOUR VACCINATION RECORD WITH YOU.
Next, a nurse/​clerk will ensure that you filled out the info correctly in another part of the clinic, but beware that this is not sound-​proof and the whole waiting area knows you are going to Vietnam and your embarrassing medical problem.
Then you wait some more before going in to see the doctor. He ensures that you are up to date on all the potential vaccines you may require. But watch out for the up-​sell. Not everyone needs every vaccine and if you don’t know anything about your risk factors, you may end up with 5 shots today.
Then you’ve got your prescription, and some flyers, but you’ve got to pay. Being an American, I know all about paying at the Doctor’s office. But this is novel for most Canadians and why most family docs don’t even want to see travel patients, because they don’t have a system to bill you, or cash or credit card machines on hand.
After you pay for all your shots, you go in to the final stop (if you need shots) and roll up your sleeve, look the other way at Mickey Mouse– and this will only hurt for a second… OUCH!
Now, go next door and make it all better with a chocolate croissant from Bonjour Brioche.