Woman shocked by full body scan in Türkiye that cost her $810

Many Americans opt for medical tourism to keep their health under control, simply because it is much cheaper than the cost of care without insurance in the United States.

TikToker Bryn Elise (@bryn.elise) uploaded a video demonstrating this fact, highlighting how she was able to get a myriad of tests in Turkey for just $810.

In comparison, the influencer claims, she would have spent “thousands” for the same level of care in the United States and these tests, combined with the cost of her flight, not only allowed her to get a full medical assessment of her body, but also to have a nice vacation.

She posted her experience on a TikTok that went viral (and it seems the hospital did too, leading some to wonder if it was a pay-to-play deal).

“I flew to Turkey to do the most in-depth check-up of my life and it was the best thing I’ve ever done for my health and my bank account,” she says at the top of her video, which shows clips from her trip to Turkey.

Bryn then explained why she decided to travel around the world on a large jet plane in order to get a complete health check.

“Doing this in the US would have cost me thousands of dollars and taken me months of queuing, but in one day we do everything: scans, tests, meetings with specialists, and the price of everything is mind-boggling,” she says, staring at the camera with her mouth open after showing more travel montage photos.

The video then shows footage of what looks like some sort of futuristic medical facility straight out of a sci-fi movie: “I’m here in the fanciest hospital I’ve ever seen, with a list of mysterious diseases to solve, so let’s get to it. I was greeted by Sam, my amazing translator/coordinator for the day,” Bryn says, posting photos of herself walking around the facility.

“The first thing we do is get some blood drawn so they can start doing some tests. You’ll also get an EKG, your blood pressure, your height and weight. And now we’ll go to radiology for a chest X-ray and an abdominal ultrasound. We also did a thyroid ultrasound and some other tests, and then we went to nuclear medicine and did a bone densitometry.”

But those aren’t the only reviews Bryn said she’s been through, but before sending any more texts, she said the facility actually has an incredible restaurant, which feeds arriving patients good food, not the Panera level you’re probably used to at many medical facilities in the United States.

“Then you break for lunch and they have really taken hospital catering to a whole new level. They have even brought in a popular Turkish restaurant to handle all the meals and patients can literally order food delivered to their room. It’s unreal.”

And for anyone worried about engaging in medical tourism outside the United States and receiving treatment in a foreign country, Bryn shared how she eased her apprehension about doing so.

“I did a lot of research for this trip and ended up choosing a Memorial Group hospital because they are accredited by the Joint Commission International and I have never seen a hospital with so many amazing reviews,” she said, posting a screenshot of the reviews in her video.

It then shows her walking back inside the hospital: “Now it’s time to meet with the internal medicine doctor and go over my test results,” she says.

“I was trying to stay calm but I was nervous. We went through, one by one, the 30+ tests and cancer markers I was tested for in depth and I was able to ask all the urgent questions about my health. It was time to go to the gynecologist and get a pap smear and I thought to myself: STOP the cameras.”

She still hadn’t finished her day of medical exams: “After that, in ophthalmology, the doctor said okay, this is how you see now, and this is what the world should look like,” Bryn says as she sits in the assessment chair and a device is placed in front of her eyes to see how her vision could be corrected.

It’s at this point in the clip that there’s a break in the narration and he can be heard exclaiming from the chair in a tone that sounds impressed, “Turns out I have astigmatism and your daughter needs glasses.”

Then she had to deal with dental care, which she did not follow, explaining why: “Normally you would go for a dental check-up afterwards, but I actually just had one, so we skipped it.

Heart health was the next step in the program, which featured her walking on a treadmill: “Now I’m a cardiologist, so I had a stress test and a chest ultrasound which were my favorite parts of the whole day. I got to see my heart beating in my chest, it was amazing,” she said, showing the screen of her organ pumping blood in and out of her body on the doctor’s machine.

“That’s why I love medical tourism, because I could never afford this level of care in the United States. And this full-day package only costs $810. Personally, I’d rather spend $700 on a flight to Turkey, get dozens of tests done, and take an entire vacation than spend the thousands of dollars it would have cost me in the United States.”

There have certainly been cases where people have reported that their dream medical tourism trips turned into real nightmares.

The TikToker said the healthcare facility had excellent reviews, but a Google review search for Memorial Hospitals Group showed some ratings that were less than favorable.

Out of 11 reviews on the page, there were several one-star ratings, including one person who said: “A bad hospital for thieves. I don’t advise Arabs and foreigners to come here because they don’t care about the patient’s health. A commercial hospital that only cares about money and stealing from foreigners, especially a big star on you, you greedy people.”

The company has amassed some 431,000 followers on Instagram and posts extensively about the services it provides to its clients, and it appears the hospital group is relying on its JCI accreditation as well as the fact that tourists visit its facilities for reviews.

The hospital even posted Bryn’s video natively to their account here , writing in a caption of the video, “Have you ever thought about combining a vacation with top-notch medical care? Bryn Elise just experienced the best of both worlds! Watch her incredible journey to Memorial Hospital in Turkey in this video! From expert medical care to the beauty of Istanbul, it’s a journey worth watching.”