| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Captain Marlow

Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Location: darkness
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:48 am Post subject: New required medical checks? |
|
|
i'm asking this on behalf of some new teachers here... we have several new teachers, and they all have to go for a full medical check... when they first arrived, they had the pee in the cup/take your blood check for their visas...
but now (tomorrow) they have to go for a full check that includes not eating for the rest of tonight and tomorrow until after the exam, they are being put under and they have been told that they will have a tube put into their stomachs...
needless to say, they're all a little freaked out... they were told it has to do with medical insurance? funny thing is (and it has them wondering another "why?") that only 3 of the 5 new teachers have to do this...
has anyone heard of this or been asked to do this? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Lukychrm42
Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Cheonan
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:54 am Post subject: |
|
|
| No freaking way. They can't force you to have surgery! I came almost two months ago, and went through the motions of some really basic health stuff. And that was that. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Captain Marlow

Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Location: darkness
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Lukychrm42 wrote: |
| No freaking way. They can't force you to have surgery! I came almost two months ago, and went through the motions of some really basic health stuff. And that was that. |
was that a second medical check beyond the pee/blood test? if so, what specifically did you undergo? xrays, stick out yer tongue and say, "ahh...", etc? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
NoExplode

Joined: 15 Oct 2008
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 4:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Free English lesson scam for doctors. Someone's making money here. It's like a reverse-English Village. Instead of you working a fictional cash register and having K students come and ask you stuff in English, it's YOU going out to a doctor's office and them having to do real-world English talk-ee. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
blurgalurgalurga
Joined: 18 Oct 2007
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:01 am Post subject: |
|
|
That's f*cking insane. We just sent a bunch of people for the 'full medical' as well and there were no tube insertions.
Your school/ hospital or whoever is seriously invasive and should be told to stick a tube up themselves, IMO. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Yesterday

Joined: 15 Aug 2003 Location: Land of the Morning DongChim (Kancho)
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:03 am Post subject: |
|
|
No foreign visa-applicants has to have a tube put into their stomach..
obviously someone has the info (or translation) wrong...
the only test I know of involving a tube being put into the stomach is the
"stomach acid test" - that assesses the quantity and acidity of stomach contents.
why would a visa-applicant need that? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Lukychrm42
Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Cheonan
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:15 am Post subject: |
|
|
Vision (read the letters with glasses as applicable), hearing (one beep in each ear- loud- I have a 35% hearing loss and I passed), blood pressure and heart rate, blood, urine, height and weight, there was supposed to be a dental check but they skipped it- oh darn.
Basic stuff, and I think they're most worried about the drugs and infectious diseases. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 5:16 am Post subject: Re: New required medical checks? |
|
|
| Captain Marlow wrote: |
| but now (tomorrow) they have to go for a full check that includes not eating for the rest of tonight and tomorrow until after the exam, they are being put under and they have been told that they will have a tube put into their stomachs... |
That tube is probably an endoscope. Your teachers must absolutely refuse to be put under general anesthesia without a written, certified, notarized guarantee that they will not be responsible for any costs resulting from complications resulting from said procedure until the end of time.
Until then, they absolutely must not sign consent.
Useful phrases:
I am an American/Australian/British/Canadian citizen.
저는 미국/호주/영국/캐나다 국민입니다. (jeneun miguk/hoju/yeong-gook/kaenada gungminimnida)
I want to talk to the American/Australian/British/Canadian embassy/consulate.
미국/호주/영국/캐나다 대사관/영사관 에 이야기하고 싶습니다. (migook/hoju/yeong-guk/kaenada daesagwan/yeongsagwan e iyagihago sipseumnida)
In the new K/US agreement on free passage and trade, there is no mention of anyone getting a gastrointestinal endoscopy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endoscopy
And take it up with immigration.
If they wanted to shove a tube down my throat, I would sue the holy shit out of them, especially if they waited until I got here to ask. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Gatsby
Joined: 09 Feb 2007
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:08 am Post subject: |
|
|
I had this once. It was an endoscope inserted all the way down to the small intestine. To check for an ulcer. It was done with an injection of super strength valium.
If you were to vomit during the exam, the complications could be serious if stuff got into your lungs.
With valium you remain semi-conscious. You can respond to directions. You may even be able to talk, for all I know.
This procedure, of course, is not appropriate for a routine physical exam, here in Korea or anywhere in the world. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Ultimo Hombre
Joined: 13 Oct 2008 Location: BEER STORE
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:13 am Post subject: |
|
|
These tests were a bit of a pain for me. I had to give blood twice and then the doctor's excellently awful bedside manner freaked me out when he asked to do more tests and take more blood. Come to find out they just made a mistake and covered it up by inconveniencing me slightly. But, a throat tube? No way Jose.
They also told everyone I work with that our blood pressure is high. Do Koreans gauge it differently? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Straphanger
Joined: 09 Oct 2008 Location: Chilgok, Korea
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 6:16 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ultimo Hombre wrote: |
These tests were a bit of a pain for me. I had to give blood twice and then the doctor's excellently awful bedside manner freaked me out when he asked to do more tests and take more blood. Come to find out they just made a mistake and covered it up by inconveniencing me slightly. But, a throat tube? No way Jose.
They also told everyone I work with that our blood pressure is high. Do Koreans gauge it differently? |
Yes.
High blood pressure in the US is 130/, in the UK it's 140/. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Bibbitybop

Joined: 22 Feb 2006 Location: Seoul
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 10:25 am Post subject: |
|
|
Straphanger, good medical info, bad new teacher info.
OP: Stupid question. Check the Immigration website about requirements. If being sedated is part of the process, I'll buy you dinner in the Jonggak Tower's top restaurant.
Everyone else: First, you have 90 days after arriving in Korea to submit your medical check (including drug and AIDS test). 2nd, your employer can not dictate where you get this test (unless you signed some special stipulation, in that case you are an idiot). 3rd, don't get it in your small, rural town as everyone will know your blood type, medical problems and birthmarks. Finally, if you can, go to a western doctor, even if it costs more. Let me suggest Severance Hospital's International Clinic (next to Yonsei University). It's more money, but no BS. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
Captain Marlow

Joined: 23 Apr 2008 Location: darkness
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:05 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Bibbitybop wrote: |
Straphanger, good medical info, bad new teacher info.
OP: Stupid question. Check the Immigration website about requirements. If being sedated is part of the process, I'll buy you dinner in the Jonggak Tower's top restaurant.
Everyone else: First, you have 90 days after arriving in Korea to submit your medical check (including drug and AIDS test). 2nd, your employer can not dictate where you get this test (unless you signed some special stipulation, in that case you are an idiot). 3rd, don't get it in your small, rural town as everyone will know your blood type, medical problems and birthmarks. Finally, if you can, go to a western doctor, even if it costs more. Let me suggest Severance Hospital's International Clinic (next to Yonsei University). It's more money, but no BS. |
first, i didn't ask a stupid question... i asked if anyone else had to undergo the same as my new coworkers will... if you have a high school education even, you'd pick up on the tone of my post, and of mine and my coworkers' suspicion about having to do a secondary medical check...
we live in daegu, so i'm not sure if there are "western" doctors... the school has arranged to take these teachers to the hospital, not leaving them a choice of choosing their own...
thanx for nothing... |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
VanIslander

Joined: 18 Aug 2003 Location: Geoje, Hadong, Tongyeong,... now in a small coastal island town outside Gyeongsangnamdo!
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:33 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| if you let someone put a tube into your stomach you might as well bend over and get a colonoscopy while you're at it |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
tiger fancini

Joined: 21 Mar 2006 Location: Testicles for Eyes
|
Posted: Tue Oct 28, 2008 7:38 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| VanIslander wrote: |
| if you let someone put a tube into your stomach you might as well bend over and get a colonoscopy while you're at it |
And a full body cavity search for hidden drugs too. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
|