{"id":646844,"date":"2026-05-03T11:55:28","date_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:55:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/646844\/"},"modified":"2026-05-03T11:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-03T11:55:28","slug":"american-expat-in-australia-blown-away-by-priceline-pharmacy-visit-very-different","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/646844\/","title":{"rendered":"American expat in Australia blown away by Priceline pharmacy visit: ‘Very different’"},"content":{"rendered":"

An American expat<\/a> has been shocked at how easy it is to pick up a medication prescription in Australia.<\/p>\n

Natalie Carroll, who is originally from Seattle, has been Down Under for the last six weeks and has slowly been setting up her new life.<\/p>\n

This has included trips to Kmart<\/a>, setting up a bank account, getting an Aussie phone number and sorting out all her prescriptions<\/a> that she would normally have back home.<\/p>\n

But she told Yahoo Lifestyle she couldn’t believe how seamless the process is here compared to back home.<\/p>\n

“Even just finding a doctor was very different,” Natalie said.<\/p>\n

RELATED:<\/p>\n

“I think it’s a lot more accessible here. Just to be able to go online and find a GP… that shocked me.”<\/p>\n

She said back in Seattle, you’d normally have to wait four to six months just for a regular checkup with a general practitioner.<\/p>\n

Instead, she found appointments that were available for the very same day and the amount of choice was overwhelming.<\/p>\n

But once she was given her prescriptions, getting them from her local pharmacy was even more mind-blowing.<\/p>\n

Do you have a story to share? Contact au.lifestyle.ent@yahooinc.com<\/a><\/p>\n

How do Australian pharmacies compare to the US?<\/p>\n

In her home city, Natalie said some pharmacies wouldn’t fill prescriptions unless they were linked to your insurance provider.<\/p>\n

It can also take days for your medication to arrive at the specific pharmacy.<\/p>\n

Natalie admitted she had “split pills in half” back in the US because she had to wait for her prescriptions for so long.<\/p>\n

But when she ducked into a Priceline store in Sydney, she was thrilled that it would only take five minutes for her medication to be in her hand.<\/p>\n

\"She<\/p>\n

She was stunned it took her just 10 minutes to get her prescriptions. Source: Getty\/Instagram\/@natcarroll_<\/p>\n

“It was way easier. There wasn’t any line,” she said of her Aussie experience.<\/p>\n

“Back home, I would literally carve out time in my work day to go get my prescription, and there’d still be a line of four people ahead of me.”<\/p>\n

Natalie added that the woman who served her was incredibly helpful and talked her through the whole process.<\/p>\n

The staffer explained how to claim the medications back through her private health insurance, and the difference between well-known brands and generic brands of medication.<\/p>\n

While she praised the Aussie chemist system, she was surprised to receive a paper prescription from her GP.<\/p>\n

Back home, the doctor sends the script to the pharmacy, and you only need to show up and pick up the medication.<\/p>\n

While paper prescriptions have been the dominant way to get medicine in the past, electronic prescriptions are becoming increasingly popular.<\/p>\n

They’re sent as a text message to your phone, and you only need to show the pharmacist the QR code to get your prescription.<\/p>\n

Want the latest lifestyle and entertainment news? Make sure to follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Instagram, <\/a>and TikTok<\/a>. <\/p>\n