Korean Job Discussion Forums

[oldfatfarang]

I've been at this EPIK school for 5 months (includes 2 month vacation).

I've just been told that I have to take a compulsory medical check up (free for basic test - but I have to pay 20% for some additional tests).

I've refused to pay for anything (my K govt med insurance pays for the standard test).

My wrangler said all teachers at my school have already had their annual medical tests (I know it's compulsory for them).

So what's up? HaVE other EPIK teachers had to take 3 full medicals in 4 & 1/2 months)? I had a full medical ($400) at home (to get my EPIK job): another full EPIK medical on arriving in Korea - and now .........another.

I'd appreciate any info on this? Frankly, giving blood 3 times in 5 months is not sparkling for me.

[bogey666]

I assume this is the medical for Public employees? (which now means you)

this is separate from the medical to get CRC.

Mine was free (gepik) and WHY did you pay for a medical in the US?

I wouldn't pay for anything in the US, especially medically related with YOUR money!

[oldfatfarang]

I'm not American.

I paid for a full medical at home so I wouldn't have problems here. I was unsure what the K Immigration/EPIK medical required, and I didn't want to get sent home - and have to pay for my flight - if I failed the EPIK medical.

Thankfully, I'm in good health. Always have been. I'm just really annoyed at having to do 3 medicals in 5 months.

I mean, is this a new variation of the "Lets make them prove their qualifications all the time?" game?

[bogey666]

[OnTheOtherSide]

With all those x-rays in Korea you're going to glow in the dark soon.

[JJJ]

Pretty easy to explain. You needed a medical to get the ARC etc. and it was done in school year 2008-09. Now a new school year started. You just happened to come late in the year.

Have fun.

[some waygug-in]

I had to do 2 every year so far in the PS system, one to get the initial visa (so I guess immigration keeps it) and later one to give to the national health insurance office. The first one I paid for, the second was free.

I had to pay 60,000 won by the way.


Korean gov't agencies don't communincate with each other, so get used to it.

[oldfatfarang]

Update:

My compulsory medical check up has been cancelled. Apparently, it's no longer necessary. Funny that. I'd written my wrangler and said that I wasn't going to "give blood 3 times in 5 months for this job" (my exact words).

Frankly, I think it's insulting to test an employee's health this many times. It borders on abuse., especially with the garbage the Korean tv and press promulgate about Western teachers' health and life-styles.

And, having first hand experience of the Korean health system , I'm glad I spent $400 for a proper check-up at home. I don't have the confidence that a Korean clinic could pick up a medical problem anyway.

Why do I think this?
1) A doctor in Seoul National University Hospital (one of K's best hospitals) once gave me a diagnosis: "You're dirty." (That was after another S.N.U. doctor had told me that kimchi cures cancer (WTF)).

2) During my ARC check, the lab technician contaminated my urine sample cup with her finger, but I still passed.

3) And, previous Korean nursing students have told me that 'bed sores' are a common problem in Korean hospitals.

4) I can't think of any first world health system that lets patients wander around dirty cities in their pyjamas - smoking - and then lets them return to a ward in these clothes.

So yes, I was pretty steamed up about being told I have to take a compulsory medical examination in "The Worlds' best health service" (my co-worker's words).

[Illysook]

I think that our attitudes toward healthcare is one of the places where our culture differs most dramatically from Korean culture. In the west, we are taught to be active consumers of healthcare and this is to our benefit. In Korea, one is supposed to just trust the doctor or pharmacist.

For me, it's to the point that I don't even want to go to the doctor anymore. I just feel shoved around and I hate taking medicine when I don't know what it is...so today I threw a small fit at the pharmacy. All I wanted to know was what my pills were and what they were for. This is basic to me. My boss thought that I was being rude and made the pharmacist angry. I thought that I was asking him to do his job and in the future, I will continue to make these people do their jobs...especially if Korean hospitals have problems with bedsores.

There's no excuse for bedsores. All you have to do to avoid them is bathe your patients, help some of them move around a bit, and change any soiled sheets. In fact, when my Dad had cancer and my mom was trying to decide on a hospice plan, I told her that if he got any bedsores, there would be more than one funeral.

[bogey666]

i never had any issue with doctors, here.. and I knew exactly what I took and I went to an English speaking doctor.

best part was paying 3500 won for the visit and 2000 for the pills.

I'll let you people pay for your North American healthcare and drugs. I'm not interested.

oldfatfarang - that's just preposterous - fear needles?

[oldfatfarang]

I fear heights - but not needles.

I've been around. I've had minor operations in Germany, New Zealand and Thailand. And I grew up living in a hospital (mother ran one); I worked in a hospital for 5 years; and I studied in one for a year. My brother's been a nurse for 30 years. So I have a pretty good idea of what constitutes basic first world health care.

I've looked after my own health since I left home at 15. I'm healthy. Unlike Korean teachers - I don't smoke or get blind drunk with the boys every week - and I have a healthy sportsman's diet. So I don't need needless health checks or compulsory K govt health premiums either.

And my experiences in Korea (see above) don't make me want to be a pin cushion to assuage Korean xeonophobia about dirty foreigners either.

[D.D.]

I always amazed how many idiots on Daves take pills. Wake up people. Pills are bad for your health but good for the Dr.'s bank account.

[nicam]

I was just told that I have to have another medical exam (will be the 3rd in 6 months) as well.

I wouldn't care if I got to do it on the clock, but they want me to go during my free time, and not only do I commute an hour each way to work but the hospital is even further out of the way, so I will now have to kill an entire evening doing this, or a weekend day. Just annoying, that's all.

[oldfatfarang]

[oldfatfarang]