Korean Job Discussion Forums

[anu]

Hi guys, apologies if this has come up before, but I haven't found it if so...

I'm considering teaching in Korea for a year... The thing is, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis two and a half years ago. I have no health problems (just this diagnosis), it doesn't affect me at present or prevent me from doing anything I want to do...but I do have some residual sight difficulty with my right eye from the MS episode which led to my diagnosis, which would show up if I was given an eye exam as part of a medical exam...

SO, I guess I want some advice! -Would I be taken on if employers know I have been disgnosed with this? Would it be advisable to lie on my self-check and say I've had dodgy vision in my right eye since birth if given an exam? Is there a list available about conditions that prevent one from teaching in Korea? Can medical checks be carried out before arrival and as long as one is in good general health, is this enough?

Any relevant advice welcome! I don't want to lie, but also don't want to be discriminated against over something that I do not feel to be a valid reason for keeping me from teaching in Korea...I live and teach in Ireland at present and I haven't missed any days of work through illness since this diagnosis.

Thanks

[Bread]

I won't get into ethics (that's your choice), but I will say that you will not receive an eye exam in your visa checkup and that it's VERY unlikely that anything bad will happen if you lie on the form.

edit: Just remembered there WAS an eye chart test, but they didn't look into my eyes or anything. Anyway, I don't think they really care. Everyone involved seemed to just want to get it over with.

[DaeguNL]

There is a possibility you could get fired if you need sick time and your employer discovers you did not not disclose your condition.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

Advice: don't disclose anything they wouldn't find out about anyway.

If you need to take daily medication for it, or there's a chance you could have a serious bout with your illness while you were over there (I don't know much about MS), then you should probably tell them, because you might get deported if they found out you lied. But if it doesn't affect your everyday life, then there's really no point in mentioning it.

There's no "official list" of banned medical conditions, but if they discriminate based on age, race, and appearance, you can bet your butt they'll discriminate based on medical status too.

I've never heard of them doing an eye test. What difficulties does it cause you? Just poor vision (is it correctable?), or some kind of externally apparent condition?

Best of luck!

[anu]

Thanks for your responses guys...

Basically, the problem with my vision in my right eye is that I can't see in detail with it -i can see silhouettes -everyting is colour saturated and dim, so I couldn't read or decipher anything in fine detail with my right eye alone, be this a person's face or letters on a chart etc..It's not correctable nor is it obvious in any way by the appearance of my eyes... of course, my left eye is fine and so i can see and read everything with this and I have good peripheral vision in my right eye which means I can drive etc without any problems....

I'm not on any medication..and while I can't rule out that I might have a relapse, I guess the question is, if I declared that I have MS, do people think they would reject my application automatically?

Better to tell the truth and possibly be rejected straight off (and what are the chances of this with MS?) or lie and *possibly* have a relapse which means they would find out I lied?!

Would declaring I have MS automatically reject me, or would they posssibly still accept me? (I think I may know the answer already..but please do throw in you tuppence worth if you have tuppunce to spare!)

Cheers for all help or advice you could give...!

[proustme]

Come over here and see if it works out. You've got nothing to lose.

[Reise-ohne-Ende]

anu, I don't think it would be an automatic rejection. I just think it might be a little/lot harder to find a job. I don't know; I had to declare my hypothyroidism, which is not life-threatening, but we'll see if it affects my application at all.

As much as this sucks to say, since you don't have any physically apparent disabilities, I think you might be OK. I think, if I were in your situation, I would be honest but downplay it a lot. I don't know if there's such a thing as "mild MS", but I would put that if possible. And if they ask about symptoms or anything, just downplay it: "My vision in my right eye is not perfect", "There is a small chance that it could come back temporarily", etc.

:-/

Best of luck!

[proustme]

Schools/hagwons in Korea don't welcome teachers with health conditions. Korea isn't a land of equal opportunity/employment practices.

[DWAEJIMORIGUKBAP]

Common sense and my experience living and working in this country dictate the following which has also been said by another poster -

If it wont show up on your medical exam - don't bother mentioning it.

Simple.

Finitto.

Ciao.

[Bread]

[Milwaukiedave]

anu,

With the type of medical exams they do, it is unlikely to show up. If the eye problem is not physically noticeable, then then choice whether you disclose it to the employer is yours. If you disclose it, I'm almost sure you will not get hired (unless the employer is completely in the dark in terms of what MS is, which is possible I guess).

My concern for you is whether you would come over here alone and have a relapse and no one would know how to help you until you were taken to a hospital. Also you would be without family members to care for you. My personal take is it's a bad idea. Take it with a grain of salt though.

[b0101]

If you disclosed it, you probably would be rejected. As someone mentioned, it's not the land of equal opportunity and they would be hesitant to take on someone with a medical condition.

That said, if you're healthy, I'd lie and come.

[Toffenheim]

My medical had an eye test but I think your plan of just saying you've had it from birth will work fine.

[CrikeyKorea]

You will probably have more difficulty based on the fact that your are Irish....(Assuming you are Irish, and your not there to teach them English

[anu]