Family practitioners

All insured people have a family practitioner, who is the first contact point in case of illness. The family practitioner treats minor illnesses, can make home visits and gives referrals to visit a medical specialist. No referral is needed to visit a psychiatrist, gynaecologist, dermatovenerologist, ophthalmologist, dentist, pulmonologist (for tuberculosis treatment), infection specialist (for HIV/AIDS treatment), surgeon or orthopaedist (for traumatology).

For more information on family practitioners, see http://www.haigekassa.ee/eng/service/physicians. The list of family practitioners in Tartu is available on www.tartu.ee. As the information is in Estonia, ask your tutor’s help when choosing and signing up with a family practitioner. In case the doctor does not speak English, you could also try asking your tutor to come with you to the appointment. Do not forget to take your EHIC or private health insurance documents with you.

Family practitioners’ centres in Tartu:

• University Family Physicians’ Centre
  Address: Puusepa 1A, Tel. 731 9268

• Family Physicians of the City centre of Tartu
  Address: Gildi 8, Tel. 744 1372

• Medicum Family Physicians
  Address: Turu 2, Tel. 731 2260

If you need to visit a family practitioner, call beforehand and make an appointment. Visit to a family practitioner is free of charge, but a family practitioner can charge a visit fee of up to 5 EUR when making a home visit.

Emergency medical service and accident ward

The accident ward and the emergency medical service unit are open 24/7 and you may seek help from them especially at weekends and at night time when family practitioners are off duty. In Tartu, both the emergency medical care unit and the accident ward are located in Puusepa St. 8.

Transportation by ambulance in the case of emergency is free of charge. Visit fee of up to 5 EUR can be charged if you go to the emergency reception.

Specialised medical care

All visits to medical specialists are organized via the family practitioner except for specialists listed on p. 3. International students are advised to consult the family practitioner when choosing a particular medical specialist. Visit fee for a medical specialist is up to 5 EUR. However, some appointment times are outside the insurance scheme and then the visit fee may be much higher. It is advisable to ask about the visit fee when making the appointment.

Medical specialist may find that you need hospitalisation. If you are insured, in-patient fee of up to 2.50 EUR per day is charged for up to 10 days per hospitalisation.

In most cases, you should only pay the visit fee and the doctor will send invoices for the rest of the costs directly to your insurance provider. If the doctor you visit does not have a contract with the insurance provider for the compensation of cost, you must pay the full cost of the health service yourself. In that case, keep all the cost documents and referrals and apply for compensation from your insurance provider.  If you have any problems using your (private) health insurance in Estonia, you can ask for information and advice from your insurance provider or the Estonian Health Insurance Fund by calling their information line 16363.  

Dentists

For adults, dental care is not free of charge. Usual visit may cost from 10 EUR upwards depending on the problem. There are many dental care providers in Tartu, the most central one is the Stomatology Clinic of Tartu University (Town Hall Square 6, 2^nd floor, tel. 731 9100).

You can find information on dental care providers on www.tartu.ee (it is in Estonian, so please ask further assistance from your tutor).

Pharmacies

The most central pharmacy is Tartu Raeapteek in the town hall building (at Town Hall Square), open 24 hours.