Korean Job Discussion Forums

[AsiaESLbound]

Be careful with seeing hospital doctors over a flu, cold, or other conditions that's not a critical situation like heart attack or bad accident injury, because they can order you to admit into a hospital saying you have some serious condition like an infectious disease such as TB or HIV when you don't have allowing for an oddball nut case doctor to control you for a few days as happened to me. Needless to say, this terrified me and caused me unnecessary drama when a quack said I had TB yet I didn't have. He admitted 4 days later upon my release he knew I didn't have TB all along and didn't have me on TB drugs as he had me thinking. The hospital conditions were deplorable. (see below) Even though I'm well, he actually mumbled it would be OK if I wanted to stay longer with it being clear in his attitude and personality he wishes for me to fail. This infuriates me to no end. This was a downright mean thing to do to me exercised by a narcisist doctor with an inferiority complex.

I seen aforementioned quack this past Monday morning at a small government hospital in my small town because I was experiencing flu and cold symptoms longer than I should have that was obviously only a bacteria infection. While the antibiotics fully cleared me up inside of 2 days, I didn't need to be hospitalized nor told or suggested I was a very ill man when I'm healthy and my tests checked out. On Monday afternoon in his office, he acted like and insinuated I had lung cancer and then said I had TB tuberculosis and that I must admit into the hospital for proper treatment so he had me call my co-teacher and talked to her who was then charged full of drama. After having a chest CT, blood test, chest xray, and sputum test he was telling me I had TB yet I'm negative nor did I have TB's symptoms of coughing up bloody sputum mucous with chest pain nor any sign of serious conditions. I had a touch of bacterial pneumonia causing some cloudy area in the xray image and for me to feel extremely tired, but the CT image clearly showed healthy lung tissue so it was obvious I had a bacterial infection simply needing a course of antibiotics.

Even though nothing serious was going on with me nor was I in critical condition of any sort, I was admitted into the hospital by a quak doctors order late Monday afternoon, hooked up to IV, and given very powerful antibiotics intravaneously that worked very quickly inside of only 1 day to make me feel perfectly good again. Doctor was telling me I was going to have to stay until next Wednesday and I'd have to be on drugs for 6 months. I was in horror I'd lose my job, get sucked dry of money, and just going stir crazy with the appalling conditions and the fact I needed out rightfully so. It was harrowing and humbling to say the least, but I was diplomatic and respectful as much as I could be where I did not bad mouth anyone nor threaten anyone as much as these people angered me with passive aggressive BS and low quality work.

The conditions of this hospital are disrespectful to put it nicely. The bathroom drain was plugged so the room flooded out when I showered requiring a nurse aid to mop for an hour, the bathroom floor was black mold, no internet nor Wifi was possible, no laundry service is available, no bath towels are offered, a nurse aid was going to inject air into my veins until I stopped her because she didn't know how to hold the syringe, the food was horrible, and they wouldn't even remove my dinner trays full of dishes from the room after each meal requiring me to carry it in one hand while pushing an IV pole all the way down a hall. I was made to wear the same clothes for 3 days straight and was refused a clean set of hospital garment. The old people stank to high heavens with rotten filthy stench so no one is helping them keep any hygiene. This is completely nasty conditions, unethical, and low class. It is truly a disaster due to a lack of work ethic, lack of professionalism, and a severe lack of basic services. I frightenly lost all trust and was scared for my life a cross contamination was going to happen with injections and IV stuff so I'm hopeful nothing was done to me that I don't yet know about. There is a severe lack of cleaning services and they didn't want to do anything. No one seemed to care about anything or anyone and ice cold attitudes with a severe lack of attention to detail.

In the end, it all costed 350,000 won with NHIC and I feel I need my money back or most of it. I also feel I deserve an apology, but seen they coldly refused yet it was obvious they are wrong and I could see in their eyes they knew it. I expressed today to my co-teachers I'm angry and need an explaination and an apology or I need to file a formal complaint. They had the gald to tell me to not complain about anything Korean. I was told not to complain, obviously to guard the nationalistic pride and avoid losing face. Needless to say, I won't do another contract in Korea after nearly completing 4 of them, having many good memories, and a best friend for years who is also Korean.

Just a heads up on taking those easy to land country and small town jobs. Be especially careful in rural small town areas, particularly in Gyeongsangnam-do and Gyeongsangbuk-do where all locals and co-teachers will tell you they are from Daegu for this means they are conservative right wing and will not be nice to you nor all that fun to live and work around. The conservatives do not want foreigners here, but have to allow it to go on since the government says so for the kids though operate in strange unpleasant ways like I experienced. You'll know if you see it or when you see it when dealing with people.

[BigBuds]

[AsiaESLbound]

[Chaparrastique]

[Stan Rogers]

Next time just google your health problem.

[jvalmer]

[andrewchon]

Come to think of it, what Korea needs is a good-old fashioned hospital show on TV. Like Scrubs, ER, and dare I say it... General Hospital, with doctors and nurses who think about patients while they screw each other's brains out. That's the way to improve, well at least maintain, the hospitals. If it's on TV, it has to be true.

[nicwr2002]

[Jongno2bucheon]

Sounds like a pretty horrible story.

[DosEquisXX]

I had a somewhat similar story. I was kept in a hospital for about a week when I suffered an ataxia episode that resulted in a hospital stay. After a day of treatment, the condition was clearly not life threatening. Although I felt slightly dizzy, I knew that bed rest would be the only cure and that the hospital could do nothing about it.

They kept me there for a week. Upon leaving, a doctor told me that I had chronic blood ischemia (what?) and that I had to take these packets of random pills for a year. I asked some questions about what the pills were and the side effects of these pills. Of course, he thought I was questioning his authority and knowledge and acted offended. He refused to tell me more and told me to leave. So, I took the packets and had extreme stomach pains as a result of taking them. It was almost bad enough for me to go to the hospital again. Thankfully, the drugs wore off and the pain followed suit. I never took the drugs again. I went to my doctor when I got back to America and he said that the doctors there are full of crap and that I know more than they do.

[Stan Rogers]

Many Korean hospitals impose pill quotas upon the doctors. That's why they prescribe so many pills to the patients. Its a huge scam.

[byrddogs]

[Mix1]

[byrddogs]

[andrewchon]