Korean Job Discussion Forums

[InDaGu]

Tomorrow I'm being admitted to the hospital for shoulder surgery as a result of a motorcycle accident I was involved in last week. The surgeon has told me that I will be in the hospital 2 weeks. I'm wondering, has anyone else been in the hospital here for more than a night or two?

What level of care should I expect? I know all about how good the actual medical care here is supposed to be, but I'm more interested in the time I'll be there after the surgery. I imagine I'll be sharing a room with a bunch of ajjoshis, but does anyone know? How many people should I expect to be in my room? Does the staff check on you pretty regularly? Or are you pretty much left to your own devices all day, outside the minimum care? How about visitors/visiting hours? What should I take with me?

Any info/advice is appreciated.

[ThingsComeAround]

You'll be surrounded by at most 8 older men. If you are lucky, they may speak English. Bland Korean food all day.

[SeoulNate]

The room size will vary.

At any mid-large size hospital, you can pick how many people will be in the room with you. It ranges from 1-8 usually. Obviously, less people = more money.

I can't speak for every hospital, but the care at the few i have been to while visiting friends, has been minimal. They feed you, check to make sure you are not dead, and that is about it.

[definitely maybe]

Bring a computer with tons of shows downloaded. Your room could range from four to eight beds, and there will only be one TV.

You should also expect a lot of snoring at night. I was the only patient in my room a few years ago who didn't snore. I was stubborn decided to suffer through a week long stay in a regular room instead of shelling out an extra 150,000/night for a private room. I wanted to switch after the first sleepless night, but they told me there were no longer any available.

The nurses were great. They spoke a bit of English, humored me with my poor Korean, and were not intrusive at all.

The food was awful, but when is it ever good at a hospital? I hope you like miyeok-gook, because you'll be getting it nearly every meal!

As for visiting hours, I'm not aware that they actually set hours where visitors are not welcome. The room where I stayed, as well as every room I've seen in hospitals in Korea, had a small, roll-out bed that a friend or family member could sleep on under each patient's bed. My girlfriend wanted to stay there with me, but I refused to let her sleep in the hospital. I'm pretty sure I was the only patient in the room without a guest sleeping there.

[InDaGu]

In my case, the taxi driver's insurance is paying, so should I expect the bare minimum of everything? Like no choice in the number of roomies I have?

[Steve_Rogers2008]

If you're lucky, they'll be some good-lookin' nurses who want to practice English with you... if you're really lucky, it will be a university hospital, with plenty a-nursing students needing to study medical-related English...


Hopefully, you can help them with the ICD-9 codes, and they can help you straighten out your Longfellow.

[hagwonnewbie]

you are correct.

At SNUH a room with one other persn is 170,000 a night

a private room is ~350,000 a night

cross your fingers and bring a laptop or something

[definitely maybe]

I'm going to guess you're in Daegu, so you shouldn't see SNUH/Yonsei Severence prices. Nonetheless, I wouldn't expect too much. No idea what the taxi driver's insurance scheme will cover, but let me check with my father-in-law. He owns a taxi company!

[InDaGu]

Yes, I'm in Daegu. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into the university hospital for 2 weeks, so I opted for Daegu City, which specializes in joint and bone surgeries.