So I had my first medical experience today. I came down with a sore throat and a swollen gland the other day, no less something I caught from the millions of germ filled hands I come in contact with in the run of a day. Being the person that I am, the first thing I did when I woke up with it was take out my trusty wind up flash light and check things out. I knew right away this ailment wasn’t going away quickly on its own. So, when I went to school that day, I asked around to find out how I go about seeing a Doctor. One of the other foreign teachers helped me find a local hospital that was close to where I lived and I asked a Korean teacher to write down my symptoms so I wouldn’t have to struggle through sign language and the frustration of not being able to speak the same language. I was all set.
The hospital was easy enough to find and really close to my house. When I got in, there were probably three dozen people sitting in the waiting area. I grabbed a number and waited to the side. They give out numbers at most places here, which works well. It wasn’t five minutes before my number was called. I went up to the registration counter and she handed me a form that was translated in English... how convenient! I filled out what I could on the form (which was basically just my name since I have no idea what my address is, I don’t have Korean Health care yet, and I currently don’t have a phone number). She was completely understanding of me being oblivious to everything. She even left her station to take me by the arm up a few floors to where the Doctors have their consultations. On top of that, she actually apologized for not having better English. I couldn’t help but think how different it would be if I was a foreigner in Canada going into a Hospital with little to no information or ability to communicate. As bad as it sounds, I’m positive I wouldn’t get the same treatment. I’ve learned it’s partly because Korean’s are very proud and want foreigners to have the best opinion of their Country and also because they seem to genuinely look out for one another “Do on to other’s” as they say. Anywho, when I got upstairs there was a slightly smaller room with people waiting. From what I could tell, there were three examination rooms off the reception counter in the middle. The woman from downstairs told the reception desk my name and I took a seat. I started to read a book my old co-workers bought for me titled “Never trust a smiling bear”. It’s full of anecdotes from short and long distance travellers alike. I was one story in when the woman from behind the reception desk came over to take my temperature (no fever in sight) and my blood pressure. I was three stories in when she called me to the examination room. When I went inside, the first thing I noticed was that it was large and comforting, with plants and homey knickknacks. There was also a man sitting behind a computer at a desk. He welcomed me and I sat in the backless chair next to him. His English was broken, but good. He listened to my heart and looked down my throat, then typed some things into his computer and said he would give me a prescription. I thought he was going to write something down so I waited awkwardly but then he signed for me to go back out the door I had come in. I must have only been in there for five minutes tops. When I came up the woman from the reception desk guided me out to another desk. I wondered about my prescription, but figured they knew what they were doing since I’ve only been in their country for a month and they’ve probably been doing this longer than I’ve been living. Buddy from behind the desk signed me to sit. Not two minutes later he called my name. He said “Prescription” as he printed something from his desktop and handed it to me. Everything is done by networked computers; from registering downstairs to the receptionist in the clinic, to the Doctor’s computer, to the prescription desk. My prescription looked long, but I didn’t question it. I wondered at this time how much this speedy experience was going to cost me. The Korean teacher from my school said that without proper Korean Health care it was going to cost me five times more. She said that I should worry though because I would get the money back as soon as I get my health card. The prescription guy got his calculator out and typed in some numbers. To my surprise, the consultation came to a grand total of 13,500won ($13.50). Are you kidding me? Again, I didn’t question it.
I found my way to the pharmacy which wasn’t far from the hospital. I hesitated going in since there is no way of telling it’s a pharmacy from the outside. Most of the signs here are in Korean for things like that (to be expected). I semi-remembered one of my friends here telling me where it was before, but I wasn’t certain. When I walked in I almost walked back out because I thought I saw a Korean version of Raid on one of the shelves, but figured I’d give it a shot. I went up to the counter and hesitated to gave the woman my prescription. Really, the worst she could do was give me a puzzled look and I would just go in search of another place that semi-resembled a pharmacy. Thankfully she took it and gestured for me to take a seat. About five minutes later my prescription was ready. It was an array of pills sectioned off by dose. I suddenly had a flash back to when I was six and use to watch Grampy with his gently used, pale yellow, 7 section pill container, and how he use to put all his different colored (and sized) pills for the week in. He kept his container in the cupboard above the kitchen table. It was the same cupboard that Nan use to keep her cards and jar of pennies for betting in. My favorite thing to do was empty out the jar of pennies and see what other random things found their way in. The memory was so vivid, I could almost smell copper pennies mixed with the smell of smoke and turkey that always seemed to linger in their apartment. It was definitely a moment in time for me:) Slowly, I came back to reality. I don’t even like taking pills for headaches, what am I going to do with a whole salad of pills? The pharmacist started to go through them... two kinds of pain killers, something for my stomach, something for my sinuses, something for a headache, something for everything, oh, and the antibiotic that I had originally gone in to get! Maybe i’m sicker than I thought, or maybe the note the Korean teacher gave me said “give her the foreigner special”... that’ll cover everything! My immediate after thought was, holy crap, how am I going to pay for this? And, do I really need everything? I asked how much and the pharmacist got out her calculator to show me. The whole thing came to 23,000won ($23) without a drug plan and it probably took me a total of 45 minutes to get in to see a Doctor and to get my prescription – including walking time. Seriously.... how much more efficient can you get?
I can tell you one thing, I’m not exactly sure what all those pills where, but after I took my first dose, I felt as good as new - everything was “Irie” from them on, as Jamaican’s say. It’s just interesting how I had a certain view of how the healthcare here would be and what it actually is. As far as I can tell, it’s better than anything I’ve encountered before. Hopefully my experience will open up your eyes too :P
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