Understanding the British medical system can seem like an insurmountable task. I’ve lived in England for most of my 21 years, and I still struggle to get my head around it. For international students used to more straightforward healthcare services at home, it can be even more daunting: my mum arrived in London from Australia when she herself was 21, and ended up paying for expensive private appointments for the first couple of years, simply because nobody had explained the concept of the National Health Service (NHS) to her!
想要了解英国的医疗制度，简直就像不可能的事。21岁以前，我大都在英国度过，却依然不怎么会看医生。对于国际学生，习惯了自己国家医疗系统的直接明了，在腐国看病就更加细思恐极了。我娘亲21岁时从澳大利亚来到英国，就因为没人给她解释英国的国民医疗制度，头几年都是自掏腰包，去土豪的私人诊所看病!
Of course, private healthcare has its benefits – and we will look at those in future articles, as well as many other medical topics. But even still, every international student arriving in this country on a course of 6 months or more is entitled to free treatment via the NHS, and should know how to access it. Here are 3 steps to get you started: don’t wait until you get ill, get cracking now!
当然，私人医疗也有好处，看东西之后会再详细说，还会引入更多有关医疗的窍门。但是即便如此，留学生来英国，只要是上超过六个月的课程，都有权享受国民医疗制度(NHS)，理应知道如何免费看病。赶紧来看看以下三个入门步骤吧!别等生病了再手忙脚乱，现在开始，时刻准备着!
PAYING YOUR INTERNATIONAL HEALTH SURCHARGE FEE
支付国际医疗附加费
When people describe the NHS as being “free”, what they really mean is ...
