The K1 packet that will arrive includes a map and instructions regarding the medical exam, which is done only at the St. Luke's Medical Center Extension Clinic along T.M. Kalaw (about three blocks away from the US Embassy). This is NOT the St. Luke's Medical Center along E. Rodriguez Sr. Ave. in Quezon City, it is quite independent, and exists solely for the purpose of giving medical examinations to intending immigrants for the US, Canada and Australia.
You need three things to even get into the building: your passport, your appointment letter, and $85 or its equivalent in Philippine pesos. Your companions will have to wait outside the building, or in the waiting room on the fifth floor.
I arrived shortly after 7am (the clinic opens at 8am), but a sign outside said the building opened at 5am for those who wanted to fall in line early. I was already 50th in line. They checked my passport and appointment letter at the ground floor, and I surrendered ID in exchange for a laminated visitor's ID. I proceeded to the waiting room on the fifth floor, where another guard inspected my passport and letter again, and gave me a number. They started calling people up about ten at a time, and you walk down in a group escorted by the guard to the fourth floor, fall in line at a desk where they inspect your passport and letter (again, does this sound familiar?), then take it while you sit down and wait. About ten minutes later they start giving them out again along with several pages of forms you have to fill out. Check these back and forth before handing them back in.
These are checked, then you are called to line up and pay at the cashier. At each step, there is a short wait to finish the people ahead of you, though the entire system is quite efficient. The next step is the laboratory, where they extract blood for serologic tests for HIV and syphilis. Female patients must also submit a urine sample for a pregnancy test. You are also asked about the date of your last menstrual flow.
The next stop is at the x-ray room, where chest films are taken. Female patients have to take off their blouses and brassiere and put on the standard hospital gown. Don't worry, the dressing rooms are separate. I was asked to use protective abdominal shielding from the waist down, which I held with both hands behind me.
While your laboratory tests are being run, and your chest film is being read, you are directed to short lines outside the examining doctors' cubicles. You cannot choose who will examine you, but generally I observed that female patients are assigned to female doctors. You are questioned about your past medical history, your family history, and these are noted down. Since my period was late by a week (I've been irregular since it started), the doctor asked me repeatedly whether there was any possibility that I was pregnant even though my pregnancy test was negative. (This sometimes happens, that you test negative because you're still in a very early stage, but I reassured her there was absolutely no possibility of it.) Then you are asked to remove all your clothing and she gives you a very thorough examination. She asked if I had any scars left from my childhood chickenpox, and I pointed it out.
Lastly, you go on to the vaccination room. The vaccination requirements depend on what is appropriate for your age, and for the ages between 15 and 44 these are MMR (measles, mumps, rubella), Td (tetanus-diphtheria), and varicella (a.k.a. chickenpox). I had my complete vaccination record with me but no one bothered asking for it. I told them I'd already had measles, mumps and rubella and didn't need the vaccine, but they said they didn't have the ability to measure antibody titers, and though I'd just had my tetanus shot a year before, there wasn't a way to separate that from the diphtheria component so... Anyway, a fiance(e) has the option to defer vaccination until entering the US. But since it was already part of the $85 I'd already paid, I just went ahead. Fortunately, I didn't need to get the varicella vaccine since my chickenpox scar was duly noted by the examining physician. N.B. If you decide to have the MMR shot, don't get pregnant within the next three months. The rubella component may be harmful to the unborn child.
You wait a little after the vaccination interview, then they give you the shots (if you decide to have them), then you wait again while they finish typing everything up. I reached this stage at around 10am, then waited until 12pm, at which time the two people manning the release desk stood up and left. Most everyone left at that point to have lunch (there's a canteen on the fifth floor of the building), but I stayed for a bit, and sure enough another lady came out and called my name. Unfortunately, there was a typo in my documents and all the typists had gone out to lunch, so she asked me to go have lunch and come back later. Grr.
The food at the fifth floor cafeteria is horrible. However, everyone seems to eat there anyway.
I finally got my medical exam results shortly after 1pm. All they give you is your chest film in a big brown envelope, with your blue vaccination record slipped inside it, and a white envelope stapled shut that says "DO NOT OPEN. To be opened only by the consular officer at the time of interview." Inside are just the papers you filled up earlier and a typewritten report signed by the doctor who examined you, including your laboratory results.
I noticed that some people with problems in their chest films were called separately, and something was explained about treatment and follow-up. Thankfully, I had none of that.
You bring only the white envelope to your interview at the US Embassy. Bring the chest film in your handcarry luggage when you get on your flight to the US. Surrender the visitor's pass at the ground floor and you get your ID back.
The advantage to having all of this done before coming to the US, even though you're technically a nonimmigrant, is that you don't need another medical exam when applying for adjustment of status after you're married.