Inevitably in anyone's life (especially if you have allergies) one gets sick.  Unfortunately for me this occurs right around the time our friends were in town.  It started with the sore throat and lots of lovely colored phlegm but progressed into an ear infection which made me miserable the entire time our friends were here.  After two weeks of putting off going to the doctor due to fear of what a medical experience would be like in a foreign country I bit the bullet and went to an ear nose and throat doctor.  Wow! what an experience. 

Ok so here are the medical things that I was afraid of:

Poor communication: Thankfully, there was very little of the doctor's English I did not understand for the most part I could make out what he was saying.

Waiting:  I signed in  before the doctor's office was open and I was taken in within five minutes with no appointment. The catch to this was I actually left the building with our friend who had taken me and got coffee and then came back.  The waiting room was packed and they had already started seeing people and still took me in next.

Filling out the paperwork:  What was taken from me was only my name and my phone number.  They did not even take my address or my foreign registration ID number which everyone seems to take.  Not like the four page dissertation you have to fill out in the US.

Exam:  Well the fine art of technology kicks in again.  I got pictures taken of my inner ear and my throat and shown them on the screen during the exam.  All notes for the medical exam were directly placed in a computer during the exam including my allergies.

Cleanliness of the office:  The office was clean and tools had been sterilized.

Ok so the cost:  No insurance was requested and I am not sure if the Koreans are on socialized medicine.  The cost was 10,000 won.  Roughly, $9.50 US.  I was shocked. I was worried about figuring out how we were going to get reimbursed for the costs through our insurance originally but I wasn't nervous after that.  

So he wrote me a prescription.  I took the prescription to the pharmacy across the street.  They had my prescription ready in ten minutes and someone went over in English how I was to take it.  The funny thing about Korean prescriptions is that the drugs you are placed on are placed in little packets for each dosage period.  So the three pills I had to take at lunch were in one pack and the two pills I had to take at breakfast were in another pack and so on.  Lunch packets were labeled as such since they were different from breakfast and dinner.  Second shock was the cost of prescriptions. I was put on a three day regiment.  The cost associated with this regiment was 11,500 won ( roughly $10.50 US) for the total thing no co-pay no request for a prescription card.  

Overall the experience was very positive and I  was completely shocked at the cost compared to the US medical system.  In talking to the other women in the international community the cost associated with medical expense here are generally very inexpensive.  One our friends had a baby for $9656.00 US with no insurance. 

It was a pretty good experience over all and I feel pretty good about the experience. 

I am literally fascinated with the cost difference compared to the US medical expense.  I don't know if they are on socialized medicine of somesort or what but it was pretty amazing.

And most importantly I feel better.  No more ear problems. 

take care all,

H