First Contact: Korean Healthcare

Last week I had to see the doctor because my cough was getting worse. So the School director told me she’d take me and lucky me I got my first taste of the medical system here in Korea. I went to the office without an appointment, and got in five minutes later. The Doc wasn’t impressed with my breathing so i got a chest x-ray on the spot. He had a quick look at it and said some stuff to the director who translated the following words for me:

• Bronchitis
• Bronchial Pneumonia

This had me somewhat shit-baked, though I made sure to look unconcerned. Taking time off work really wasn’t even mentioned to me (although in Korean they could have discussed it without my ever knowing). So armed with some medication I went back into work. Since I’ve been on the meds I’ve been getting much better, as of right now my cough is almost gone. I still have about 3 more days worth of pills to take though, after that I should be as good as new. So all in all my brief experience so far with the medical service has been a positive one. However, should I require another visit during this year I will be using an english speaking doctor, it’s always best to get news directly from source.