Koffee & Kpop

For about a week now, I’ve been dealing with allergies. My eyes were constantly watering, I had a runny nose, slight cough, and general tiredness, but otherwise I felt okay.

Sometime Wednesday, my inner ears started hurting and Thursday the pain was awful. I went to the local clinic after work only to discover that the regular doctor doesn’t work on Thursdays and I would have to come in on Friday.

The clinic opens at 9am and I’m scheduled to be at work at 9:20, so I let my supervisor and co-teacher know that I was going to be late because I was visiting the clinic first thing in the morning.

I arrived at 9:05 and waited less than ten minutes to see the doctor. I really like this particular doctor because we both know enough of each other’s language to be able to communicate properly, and he gives antibiotics for longer than just 3 days, which is standard in Korea.

He looked into my right ear and let out the biggest “aiiiggooo” I’ve ever heard. “Aigoo” is hard to translate, but it’s closest approximation would be something like “oh my.”

My middle ear was severely infected. He prescribed some allergy medicine in addition to penicillin, and gave me a whopping 7 days worth of medication. I’ve come to him several times before, after visiting another doctor who only gave me weak antibiotics for 3-5 days maximum, so he understands that I need stronger medication for a longer time in order to get better.

My total cost for seeing the doctor? 5,200 ₩, or approximately $3.75 USD. My health insurance premium each month is 85,080 ₩ or $61.51 USD. (I believe the full cost is split with my employer.)

For 7 days of penicillin and 4 other medications (an antihistamine, phelgm reducer, anti-cough, anti-ulcerant that comes standard with every prescription in this country it seems), my total cost was 7,500 ₩ or $5.42 USD.

I arrived at work to be met with a bus of kindergartners coming to school at around 9:45, and two of my students ran up to me and gave me big hugs and said good morning as if they hadn’t seen me for weeks.

Overall, I am pleased with Korea’s healthcare. It’s cheap and efficient. I don’t like how 3 days of medication is the standard, how there’s always a stomach ulcer protectant with every prescription, and I certainly don’t like the shame around mental illness and taking medication for it. None of these, especially the last point, are unique to Korea. I also don’t like the fact that I am frequently unable to properly rest when I am ill, although again that’s not unique to Korean culture.

I used to hate the fact that the medication came in plastic sachets labeled for morning, noon, and night, but it’s great when traveling, as you can just pack the sachets instead of the entire bottle. I also find it easier to keep track of whether or not I took my medicine.

It’s a little weird, still, that I can’t just walk into a regular store and purchase over-the-counter medications and have to visit an actual pharmacy, but pharmacies are literally on every street corner so it’s not too big of a deal to pop in and get medication. It is hard to get certain medications, however. I’ve yet to find a suitable replacement for Imodium and Lactaid, for example, although I’ve heard that the main ingredient in Imodium can be found, but it might be prescription-only.

Overall, I really like Korea’s healthcare and think the US could learn a thing or two from it–and vice versa. As someone who was without health insurance for a few years, being able to walk into the doctor’s office without worrying how I am going to pay for it is a breath of fresh air.