Korean Job Discussion Forums

kat2 · Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Location: Busan, South Korea

Why do they insist on me going to the doctor (hospital as they say) for a common cold? He's gonna give me some drugs and I'll be well in 2 weeks. If I don't take the drugs, I'll be well in 2 weeks.

I've been here 2 years so I am well used to this, but i still don't understand it. Anyone with a decent explanation?

inspector gadget · Joined: 11 Apr 2003 Location: jeollanam-do in the boonies

I called in sick last Friday and this monday 4 Korean teachers said I must go to the hospital.

I am not sure why they go to the hospital so much, I chose to cure my cold through Herbal measures and 4 days in I feel much better although I am still coughing up some sh*t but that likely has more to do with the fact that I QUIT SMOKING ya, finally

poet13 · Posted: Mon Nov 27, 2006 9:01 pm Post subject:

Yeah, I hate that. Sneeze once, and three people suggest an immediate visit to the hospital... I need to be pretty messed up to go to a hospital. Last summer, I crashed my bicycle. Broke a rib, cracked my skull, and had some sprocket punctures (fully through the skin) I went to the hospital two weeks later cause I couldnt see straight, wasnt eating, and my balance was shot. I think they thought I was crazy, but then again, here it seems, paper cuts warrant immediate medical attention...

rothkowitz · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

a,They're a bit soft whereas we feel it'll "hard'n ye oop lad"

b,It's cheap and a quick short term fix-it.

Still,I'm not averse to pulling a sickie and saying that I had the flu when really I was just so hungover an eye had fused itself shut.

OiGirl · Joined: 23 Jan 2003 Location: Hoke-y-gun

Interesting article here:

Prescription behaviours of office-based doctors to standardized common cold patients in Korea
http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/abstract/93521058/ABSTRACT?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

PM me with an e-mail address if you want the whole article.

kingplaya4 · Joined: 14 May 2006

I think three reasons:

1. They want to make sure you aren't malingering
2. That's what they do for anything that is more than a minor irritation so they can carry on working
3. They don't want you to miss any more work than is necessary

xtchr · Joined: 23 Nov 2004

Why do most Koreans do anything? Because everyone else does it, because everyone else does it, because that's what everyone else is doing....
They've probably never even stopped to think of other possibilities.

jmbran11 · Joined: 19 Jan 2006 Location: U.S.

Koreans don't typically take "sick" days, and if you do, you'd better require hospitalization. So, part of the reason may be that you shouldn't be missing work unless you are at the doctor's office. So, you go to the doctor. That's the policy at my company ("sick" days, though included in the contract, require proof of a doctor visit), so if I need to take a sick day because I have a cold, I go to a doctor (even though all I need is rest).

jaganath69 · Joined: 17 Jul 2003

Agree with above. You better be having an amputation if you want a day off here. The first one I took, had dizzy spells and a panic attack and was obviously in no fit state to teach, the deputy says to me on the way out, "oh, and the wonjangnom said can you come back later this evening and teach!" Most people here try to head off the embarrassment of disgracing the company and get a buttload of speed and other potions to keep them upright and functioning in the workplace.

rothkowitz · Joined: 27 Apr 2006

Korean school teachers don't have sick days,but,they certainly sleep a lot at school and have those nice long summer and winter breaks.

I guess all the concern over health is a kind of hangover from a hundred(or even just 30,40..) years ago when Korea WAS a sickly place.

I think it's reasonably recently that paek-il(Childs 100 day mark)has stopped being celebrated.

Return Jones · Posted: Tue Nov 28, 2006 12:47 am Post subject:

Peter Jackson · Joined: 23 Apr 2006

I have absolutely no problems taking sick days. I am allowed 15 per year and I plan on taking as many as I need (want). This IS the first Korean job where there were no hassles though...

hellofaniceguy · Joined: 10 Jan 2003 Location: On your computer screen!

What doctors' know and I suppose many people...except koreans...is that most of what ails someone will cure itself over time with rest, etc. without having to see the doctor.
If you're sick...stay home, rest, drink plenty of.....well....we all know what to do.

ED209 · Joined: 17 Oct 2006

Lizara · Joined: 14 Apr 2004 Location: Seoul

The part I hate is when I drag myself into work looking like hell, and my director comments on it and I say, yeah, I'm pretty sick, as I slump over my pile of books and try not to throw up on the school's only copy of Let's Go 4. Then they say I should go to the hospital. Then I say, all right, when will you cover my classes so I can do that? That pretty much ends that conversation.