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Maybe leaving Korea for Japan is a bad idea....
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bassexpander



Joined: 13 Sep 2007
Location: Someplace you'd rather be.

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:03 am    Post subject: Maybe leaving Korea for Japan is a bad idea.... Reply with quote

Many people talk about how great Japan is. I won't get the chance to see, but this article seems to imply that health care in Japan leaves quite a bit to be desired. It's quite shocking to learn that there is such a severe shortage of doctors there... especially since their population is aging. Why is that? Weird.


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,487747,00.html


Quote:
Injured Japanese Man Dies After 14 Hospitals Refuse to Admit Him

Wednesday, February 04, 2009


A 69-year-old Japanese man injured in a traffic accident died after paramedics spent more than an hour negotiating with 14 hospitals before finding one to admit him, a fire department official said Wednesday.

The man, whose bicycle collided with a motorcycle in the western city of Itami, waited at the scene in an ambulance because the hospitals said they could not accept him, citing a lack of specialists, equipment, beds and staff, according to Mitsuhisa Ikemoto.

It was the latest in a string of recent cases in Japan in which patients were denied treatment, underscoring the country's health care woes that include a shortage of doctors.

The man, who suffered head and back injuries, initially showed stable vital signs, but his condition gradually deteriorated. He died from hemorrhagic shock about an hour and half after arriving at the hospital, Ikemoto said.

Ikemoto said the victim might have survived if a hospital would have accepted him more quickly. "I wish hospitals are more willing to take patients, but they have their own reasons, too," he said.

The death prompted the city to issue a directive ordering paramedics to better coordinate with an emergency call center so patients can find a hospital within 15 minutes.

The motorcyclist involved in the Jan. 20 accident was hurt too and was also denied medical care by two hospitals before one accepted him, Ikemoto said. He was recovering from his injuries.

More than 14,000 emergency patients were rejected at least three times by Japanese hospitals before getting treatment in 2007, according to the latest government survey. In the worst case, a woman in her 70s with a breathing problem was rejected 49 times in Tokyo.


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Ilsanman



Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:28 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe Japan's health care isn't that good, but Korea's system has very little going for it.
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Maxwell69



Joined: 10 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 2:40 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Health care is free in Japan, and Doctors are paid less than they are in the west. Add an aging population and you have more patients than there are doctors to care for them.

- Maxwell
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Xuanzang



Joined: 10 Apr 2007
Location: Sadang

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 3:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maybe foreigners can jump the queue with the help of an international health clinic, etc.
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tfunk



Joined: 12 Aug 2006
Location: Dublin, Ireland

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 4:03 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I don't think the international health clinics deal with serious accidents and emergencies.
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oskinny1



Joined: 10 Nov 2006
Location: Right behind you!

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 5:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Maxwell69 wrote:
Health care is free in Japan, and Doctors are paid less than they are in the west. Add an aging population and you have more patients than there are doctors to care for them.

- Maxwell


Health care is not free in Japan. I pay for it every month.
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cdninkorea



Joined: 27 Jan 2006
Location: Seoul

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 6:06 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ilsanman wrote:
Maybe Japan's health care isn't that good, but Korea's system has very little going for it.


My experiences have been good (so far) at Yonsei Severance and the Itaewon Int'l clinic, but I did go to a small hospital once for an X-ray. I left before getting it because the technician had just been sleeping in an empty hospital room (he was drowsy and rubbing his eyes) and they didn't have a lead vest (!)
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Tiger Beer



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 7:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I'm in Japan, and have been using my health insurance card....no problems so far.
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DeLaRed



Joined: 16 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

for those of you that have worked/currently working in Japan how much can you typically save each month?

Yes I know it depends on your spending habits, going out etc.......

But say on a 250k yen salary, and being sensible such as eating at home during the week, going out for the occasional meal/drink at the weekend.
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Tiger Beer



Joined: 07 Feb 2003

PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 2:05 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

DeLaRed wrote:
But say on a 250k yen salary, and being sensible such as eating at home during the week, going out for the occasional meal/drink at the weekend.

With the exchange rate as it is right now...250,000 yen is about 4 million won.

I save quite a bit of it myself. I'm not going out so much though as I'm in a smaller city. Most things are compareable in costs, except for public transportation and drinking expenses.
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Maxwell69



Joined: 10 Oct 2008

PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 8:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

oskinny1 wrote:
Maxwell69 wrote:
Health care is free in Japan, and Doctors are paid less than they are in the west. Add an aging population and you have more patients than there are doctors to care for them.

- Maxwell


Health care is not free in Japan. I pay for it every month.


Are you a native or a foreigner?

- Maxwell
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Viaje



Joined: 03 Feb 2009
Location: Indebted, USA

PostPosted: Fri Feb 06, 2009 11:43 pm    Post subject: What are the advantages to teaching in Korea/Japan? Reply with quote

I had assumed that people went to Korea because its too expensive to live in Japan, meaning that you couldn't save much of your salary. But if the pay is better than does it balance out? Also, is it true that its allowed or at least much easier or acceptable to tutor on the side in Japan? Can you save half of your salary in Japan?
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inthewild



Joined: 28 Mar 2004
Location: Korea

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 5:46 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Tiger Beer wrote:
DeLaRed wrote:
But say on a 250k yen salary, and being sensible such as eating at home during the week, going out for the occasional meal/drink at the weekend.

With the exchange rate as it is right now...250,000 yen is about 4 million won.

I save quite a bit of it myself. I'm not going out so much though as I'm in a smaller city. Most things are compareable in costs, except for public transportation and drinking expenses.


What kind of work are you doin in Japan? How's your Japanese?
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Brooks



Joined: 08 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

health care isn't free.
My Japanese wife works part-time and she pays 13,000 yen per month.
Boy, does she complain.

If my wife made under 1.2 million yen she could get free health care through my job, but since she makes 2 million she is SOL.

I will start at a university in April and my health care deduction will double.
However the coverage will increase to 90%, from 70% at my current job.
Free it is not. Basically I am just paying for all those old people.
The elderly population keeps going up.
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Brooks



Joined: 08 Apr 2003

PostPosted: Wed Feb 25, 2009 6:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I own my visa. I can teach who I want.
I think I will move to a house and I will have a room upstairs that I can use for private teaching.

Japan is more expensive than Korea. Pay may be better or not. It depends on the job.
As of April my pay will go down by 2 million.
I am losing a cushy high school job and getting a busy university job with a much longer commute. I will be working harder for less.
Plus I have to get up earlier in the morning.
Japan is in a recession, and times aren't good.

No way can I save half my salary. I live in Kanagawa, just west of Tokyo.
It is expensive to live here.
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