Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Muffin]

I was advised last year by my doctor in England that I should consider a tonsillectomy. I have wanted one for many years, but past doctors were resistant to giving adults this operation. I was pleased that finally a doctor was supportive but as I was waiting to come to Korea I could not go on the waiting list.

I am considering having this done here. What is the procedure, is it the same as in the UK, where you go to see a general practitioner and they send you to a consultant?

Also if anyone has had surgery here, could you tell me about the standard of care please. Any information would be much appreciated.

[bluelake]

My son had an appendectomy back in '93; he received excellent care. In his case, it was an emergency, so there was no preparation (he went from the emergency room right into surgery). There are many fine hospitals in Korea, but shop around your area and find one that has good reviews.

As for tonsillitis, I had that a couple times in the past (not for several years, however). My doctor said that if it only happened once a year, or less, then my tonsils were doing their job. See a Korean ENT (이비인후과) to have your situation looked at.

[Yesanman]

A lot of the questions of quality of care will depend on what hospital you go to. Out in the countryside care will probably be rudimentary at best.

I had surgery at Severance Hospital in Seoul. Things were ok there but not great. In Korea you are expected to have a family member/friend look after you, especially if you have to have anaesthetic. The nurses will not help you very much.

For my surgery, which cost 3 million won, I had to have someone co-sign my admittance form. It had to be someone who owned their own house, in case the bill went up too high. I had the 3 million in advance but they wanted more as collateral.

They will also offer you the choice of a room with 8, 4 or 2 patients. The 8 person room, of course, is very cheap, but under no circumstances take this room. Remember each patient has at least one family member with them. I counted 25 people in my room at one point so I moved to a 2 person room but it was considerably more expensive. Also in the big room half of the women were cooking kimchi stew for their husbands.

[Ya-ta Boy]

It is true that the nurses don't do very much patient care. That is mostly left up to family members. It is common for there to be a roll-away bed under the hospital bed for the family member to sleep on at night.

Also be careful about asking the doctor questions. It can be interpreted as challenging and/or not trusting the doctor. It's known to have caused problems in the past.

[djsmnc]

I had surgery in a university hospital here:

Signed some papers, gave blood, had x-rays taken, laid in a hospital bed for a day, got wheeled to an emergency room, got a spinal injection that paralyzed the lower half of my body, freaked out at the fact that I couldn't feel my body but knew they were cutting me open, woke up with a gas tube being taken away from my mouth and sharp abdominal pain, spent 2 days in a shared hospital room with old men and their family members staring at me and smiling whenever I glanced over, had a lot of visitors, couldn't apply strength to my bladder and just had to let the pee come out on its own, went home and had different Korean girls stop by to feed and nourish me, and that was that. Oh yeah, I had to pay money on the way out too, don't expect a bill, be ready to pay up front.

[Corporal]

[djsmnc]

Oh come on...

Eat a Bo-suk bar popsicle, throw up some blood, and get on with it. I had mine out when I was five and went right back to pickpocketing to pay for the surgery.