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mluo84
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Location: NJ
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 Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 4:59 pm Post subject: Does it matter that I have Diabetes? |
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| I'm applying to EPIK. Do they care that I have diabetes? |
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Goku
Joined: 10 Dec 2008
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Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008
Location: Chilgok, Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:09 pm Post subject: |
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| They have Humalog here. |
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mluo84
Joined: 26 Mar 2009
Location: NJ
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:18 pm Post subject: |
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| i'm sure they got diabetes drugs there. i'm type 2, so no need for insulin pens. |
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Fishead soup
Joined: 24 Jun 2007
Location: Korea
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 5:51 pm Post subject: |
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Officially and legaly it shouldn't matter. For the medical exam they force you to take they are mostly looking for Contagious diseases that you can pass to the Korean population like AIDS.
I have High Blood pressure. I've had it for over ten years. The only time I've ever had any problems was when I agreed to go with a Board of Education Official to the hospital. He had absolutly no regard for my privacy whatsoever. My health condition became an open book for not only other co-workers but students too. If I had lived in Canada I would have certainly sued him. |
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Yu_Bum_suk
Joined: 25 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:29 pm Post subject: |
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| It shouldn't be a problem. Do be aware that often Korean food has a suprisingly high amount of sugar in it. |
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spyro25
Joined: 23 Nov 2004
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| Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2009 6:43 pm Post subject: |
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| you'll be alright. co-worker of mine at a uni has diabetes and no-one has biothered him over it, and he seems to be able to get the drugs he needs easily enough too. |
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Tobias
Joined: 02 Jun 2008
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 12:25 am Post subject: |
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| Hmmm. You may have a problem. Your employer will be footing your medical insurance and your deductibles. If you pay for any diabetes-related medical expenses out-of-pocket, you'll be fine. If you go down to the local doctor or pharmacy each week, order up tens of thousands of won's worth of meds and checks, and use your insurance benny to cover it all, well....look out. Nothing personal, but I wouldn't cover these costs if I were an employer. There are too many people out there wanting jobs who don't carry this baggage. Life sucks this way, but it is what it is. I'm thinking like a bossman would here. |
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dragon777
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 2:56 am Post subject: |
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| Do not declare that you have diabetes. However, the medical(blood test) that you will have in your first week here) may detect something wrong with your blood consistency. Just go to a doctor outside your town or city and get a prescription from him/her. As medical confidentiality is non-existent in this country. Medicine for type II diabetes will set you back about 40000 won per month. |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:24 am Post subject: |
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| Yu_Bum_suk wrote: |
| It shouldn't be a problem. Do be aware that often Korean food has a suprisingly high amount of sugar in it. |
It's also LOADED with salt, which is bad for those people with diabetes and high blood pressure.
There's also the fact that Koreans (especially restaurants) will season their foods with lots of MSG which is carcinogenic (causes cancer).
The notion that Korean food is healthy is the biggest myth in the world. |
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dragon777
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:27 am Post subject: |
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| all so true, but it won't make you fat. |
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DCJames
Joined: 27 Jul 2006
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:30 am Post subject: |
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| dragon777 wrote: |
| all so true, but it won't make you fat. |
No, it can make you fat. Asians gain weight differently than Westerners. Asians will gain alot of weight around their waist while other parts of their body gain little weight. This makes overweight Asians look deceptively thin.
Westerners gain weight in all parts of their body, so it's more noticeable. |
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greedy_bones
Joined: 01 Jul 2007
Location: not quite sure anymore
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:32 am Post subject: |
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| Tobias wrote: |
| Hmmm. You may have a problem. Your employer will be footing your medical insurance and your deductibles. If you pay for any diabetes-related medical expenses out-of-pocket, you'll be fine. If you go down to the local doctor or pharmacy each week, order up tens of thousands of won's worth of meds and checks, and use your insurance benny to cover it all, well....look out. Nothing personal, but I wouldn't cover these costs if I were an employer. There are too many people out there wanting jobs who don't carry this baggage. Life sucks this way, but it is what it is. I'm thinking like a bossman would here. |
???
I've never had a problem with this. Any decent job offers national health insurance which has no deductible. I pay 30,000 won for my insulin once every three months and 10,000 won for a doctor's visit.
OP: It shouldn't be a big problem for you. Haven't worked for public schools, but it hasn't been an issue at any Hagwon, and I've always been straightforward about it before signing a contract. Most Koreans have no idea what type 1 diabetes is since it's pretty uncommon here. The one thing to keep in mind, though, is that the doctor's don't always know what they're talking about and don't always give you healthy advice.
If you know the dosages and insulin types that work best for you, tell the doctor that that is what you need and disregard their advice. Also, the other isses you may come across are with prescriptions. They don't have refillable prescriptions here, so you need to see a doctor whenever you want to buy insulin. Also, you'll need to find a pharmacy that carries your type of insulin, as it's not carried at all of the pharmacies like it is in the west. Usually, pharmacies in or near hospitals will carry it. Also, I don't recommend buying the pens. 5 3ml pens of lantus cost about 80,000 won whereas 2 10ml vials cost 30,000.
Last edited by greedy_bones on Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:43 am; edited 1 time in total |
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John_ESL_White
Joined: 12 Nov 2008
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 6:32 am Post subject: |
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Don't mention it on any forms for immi or the school.
You can get insulin here. There's a high rate of diabetes in asia. no worries. |
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dragon777
Joined: 06 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2009 8:59 am Post subject: |
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| DCJames it can not make you fat buddy. The only koreans who are to fat, are the ones who are eating trans fat food or worse. They are either eating food which is to unorthodox or not to korean palate. They are also not doing their daily exercise or activity of the day. |
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