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Patient Stories: D’s Experience with Emergency Care in a Korean Hospital
We want to highlight the real stories of foreigners who have received different medical services while abroad. From the good to the bad, the ugly to the hilarious, we hope to demystify accessing healthcare far from home. Hopefully, sharing the wisdom of those who have experienced it will help you too! If you’re interested in sharing your story with us, contact us here! We’d love to feature you in a future post. This story is from D, a PhD candidate studying in a university in Seoul, about her experience looking for a Korean hospital to treat her sudden pain symptoms.
[Lightly edited for clarity]
Korean Hospital #1
My healthcare story is from last winter break, last semester. I had a really bad pain in my back. I thought it was maybe kidney stones, but I had never had kidney stones before. But my health insurance had just expired. So I hurried up and bought the insurance that the school recommends. They also recommended a Korean hospital I should go to. I went to that hospital and they did tests and were like, “Well, these are inconclusive about what you have. So we want to refer you to a place that can really tell you if it’s kidney stones. Then we can get rid of them.”
Korean Hospital #2
That first Korean hospital was really cheap. It was like $20 (USD) to do all the tests. But the second place I ended up going to, I showed them that I had insurance but it might not kick in yet. They were like, it’s basically like, $1,000 (USD) to get rid of kidney stones. Even with insurance, it would still be pretty expensive. Like, $500 (USD) or something. And I was like, “No way, I would rather die than pay that much money!”
Korean Hospital #3
So luckily, I was with my Korean friend. I had also heard that someone else from school had a similar issue. We called her, and she referred us to another doctor. That doctor was really, really nice, and he told us that it’s around $1,000 (USD) to get rid of the kidney stone with the lasers. And I was like, “There’s no way I’m gonna pay that.”
And he was like, “Oh okay, well still come in and at least can give you some pain medication or run some tests to definitively find out what it is.” So he was just super nice about it. The second doctor was just gonna charge me $1,000 (USD) at the door, because I would need to pay it before they do anything. But the third doctor was like, “Let’s just see what it is and run some tests.” So it ended up being kidney stones, but it was so small that I could just naturally pass it. I didn’t have to have the surgery.
It was just really nice that the third doctor wasn’t out to get me, to charge me to do that procedure when I didn’t really need it. So yeah, that’s my medical story here in Korea. Hope it helps!
Our promise at Jivaka Care
For us at Jivaka Care, this kind of story is exactly why we wanted to start helping foreigners looking to access healthcare while abroad. D. was lucky to have a native speaker go with her to a Korean hospital. It can be tricky to find a doctor more focused on treating her pain instead of earning money. We want to make sure you don’t have to rely on luck the next time you’re in pain and don’t know where to go or what to do.
We know how important your health is to you, and it’s important to us too. So reach out to us on our website to ask us your questions, or even add us on KakaoTalk as a Plus Friend or on Facebook Messenger. We’ll be around to help you answer any and all of your questions, no matter how big or how small they may seem. Ask us anything!
