Merely a Suggestion - visiting the doctor

 I have spent a lot of time lately visiting doctors. Here is the Philippines, many doctor's offices are located on a floor of the hospital. There are a few solitary doctor offices in the community but not many. Sometimes you can get extra stuff at your community doctor's office, like advice on your road construction plans with an eye checkup and surgery.

So if you go to a clinic in the hospital, you walk around the floor, looking at the signs on the door. They have the doctor's name, specialty and office hours posted. Usually there is a receptionist who sits by the door. You check with her to see if the doctor is available. Many times the doctor is not in during their posted office hours. The receptionist will text the doctor to have him come in. It is not uncommon to wait an hour or more to see the doctor during his/her scheduled office hours. As one person said, the office hour posting is merely a suggestion.

Of course, sometimes there is just the room number and doctor's name and no schedule. That is always fun to guess when they will be there. You can look for the line of people waiting to see the doctor. However, having a receptionist there is the best sign.