Medical Tourism is a worldwide trend defined as the act of traveling to a different country for either urgent or elective medical procedures; becoming a medical tourist is a chance to combine an exciting vacation with elective or plastic surgery.

The real attraction is cost savings. The hospitals and clinics that cater to the tourist market often are among the best in the world, and many are staffed by physicians trained at major medical centers in the United States and Europe.

Doctors are supported by more registered nurses per patient than in any Western facility, and some clinics provide single-patient rooms that resemble guestrooms in four-star hotels, with a nurse dedicated to each patient 24 hours a day. Add to this the fact that each patient has a personal assistant for the post hospital recovery period and throw in a vacation incentive as well, and the deal gets even more attractive.

Some important trends guarantee that the market for medical tourism will continue to expand in the years ahead. By 2015, the health of the vast Baby Boom generation will have begun its slow decline, and, with more than 220 million Boomers in the United States, Canada, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, this represents a significant market for inexpensive, high-quality medical care.