Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Steelrails]

Are we sure that it was an appendectomy? If the guy couldn't speak Korean, and he might not have even been in the room when the diagnosis was made, isn't it possible that there was a potential pregnancy problem?


"What's wrong honey?"
"Uhhhh...appendicitis?"

or

(Korean doctor blathering something in Korean)
"What did he say?"
"Uhhhh...its appendicitis"

Seriously, if it was an emergency appendectomy she would have been run on an ambulance there or advised to go somewhere else. Something would have gone down. If the hospital has an ER they would have treated it first and billed later. What you think they leave some unconscious guy in a car accident on the road?

Either that, or as I said and it was 3AM, and Dave's being a place with certain rules and judgmental people, stomach pump or drug OD.

[NYC_Gal 2.0]

It's often faster to take a taxi than an ambulance, Steelrails. I've been told this by several older Korean friends here.

Also, mengjang (sorry for the poor romanization) is Korean for appendix, for future reference. I learned this when I went to the hospital for some suspicious pain in my abdomen that I was nervous about (as I knew the symptoms, as my mom's appendix had burst a few years prior.)

I'm really curious as to what hospital this was. I'd never heard about the pay first policy, and am glad that I didn't have to do that, as I was a crying mess when I was told that they would be operating on me.

[chungbukdo]

This spring I was visiting Korea on a tourist visa. I went in with debilitating abdominal pain from a life threatening condition. My gf took me, I had no korean insurance.

I waited about 20 minutes in the empty lobby (no line up) while they got forms and stuff for me to sign. I waited by rolling around on the floor in pain.

I had acute pancreatitis, where the pancreas releases digestive enzymes into the blood stream and begins autodigestion of the pancreas and surround organs. It is a high mortality case.

She actually had to pay for the registration for me at the hospital up front, but I didn't know that. It was not some significant fee, but it did have to be processed first.

All I can say is I would have waited much longer in Canada. My Mom had a life threatening emergency with diverticulitis where it exploded and began poisoning her internal organs, she waited 8 hours in emergency, they did not have an available bed because it was so overcrowded. They moved a bed into a janitors closet that they had cleaned out. She nearly died while waiting to see a doctor.

Right now I'm back in Canada and I am gonna get an ultrasound to see if gallstones maybe caused the pancreatitis. I will probably get it by October. Good thing I don't need an MRI, because the wait is even longer. My 13 year old little cousin died waiting for an MRI because he had migraines and a seizure. If he had immediate treatment like in the US, Korea, Thailand, anywhere, he might have gotten that brain tumour diagnosed before it was too late.

I have another good experience with Korea. In Canada I was on the 18 month waiting list for a non-urgent surgery. The initial 18 month waiting list was to make an appointment. Then there would be another 12-14 months after the appointment to wait for the actual surgery. In Korea I went to a place in Seoul, met with them at the beginning of the week and got it done on the weekend (could have done it the next day if I wanted). I did pay money, but I got a surgeon who did about 500 cases of the surgery per year, rather than 2-3 per year like the Canadian surgeons.

[NilesQ]

[PatrickGHBusan]

[NilesQ]

[jvalmer]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Actually jvalmer you may be right about the amendement but it is not all that clear.

One thing is dead certain, the parents (australian tourists) who had insufficient medical insurance would have to pay the health care fees.

As for the citizenship rules in Canada, they are under review by the Conservative government and the issue of "Birth Tourism" is one of the hot button topics. The current government intends to close what they call a "loophole" in the process to avoid this birth tourism.

Will that happen? No idea.

What I do know is that it would make absolutely no sense for Canada, a country that has tax-funded free healthcare for its citizens and residents, to provide free health care to tourists. It is up to tourists to know the costs and to purchase the approriate health insurance before they travel.

[jvalmer]

[PatrickGHBusan]

Sorry jvalmer...I amended my post when I saw you were likely right!

[atwood]

[madoka]

[radcon]