PostOpTrip

Medical tourism checklist: what to ask before you book

Short answer: The CDC advises medical tourists to check the clinic and the doctor, plan where they will recover, and arrange follow-up care at home before they go. Here is that advice as a checklist.

Checked against the cited guidance on 2 November 2026.

Confirm with your surgeon. These are general activity limits from published aftercare guidance. Your clinic's written instructions always come first, and they may be stricter or looser for your procedure.

Before you book

  • Check the clinic's licence with the country's health authority, and the doctor's registration.
  • Ask who will do each step of the procedure, by name.
  • Get the price, what it includes, and the treatment plan in writing.
  • Ask what happens if there is a complication after you are home, and who pays.
  • Talk to your own doctor at home about the plan and the follow-up.

Planning the recovery days

  • Confirm where you will stay right after the procedure.
  • Book enough days for the clinic's follow-up checks before the flight home.
  • Plan each day around the activity limits for your procedure. Our day-by-day guides cover every trip on this site.
  • Bring a companion if you can, especially after surgery.

The flight home

  • Ask your surgeon for written clearance and the earliest safe day.
  • After chest or abdominal surgery, the CDC advises waiting at least 10 days before flying.
  • On long flights, walk about every hour and drink water to lower the risk of blood clots.

Compare clinics

Send one request and get quotes from up to 3 checked clinics: compare clinics by city.

Sources

  1. Medical tourism (CDC Yellow Book). U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Checked 2 November 2026.
  2. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT): long journeys. NHS (UK). Checked 2 November 2026.

Related questions