So Much For An Apple A Day

You know it is going to be a good birthday when you are awoken by a text message from your mother at 8:30 am, (after going to sleep at 4:30), followed by another text from a friend, followed by the realization of, "Hmmmm... I don't feel good, I think I need to go to the doctors." I hate going to the doctors: poking, prodding, answering all their questions, I'd rather just wait it out. I have spent the last eight months believing I could make it through the year without having to visit a doctor here. I was wrong. So I grabbed my Lonely Planet Phrasebook and browsed through the, "At the doctor" section and started highlighting my symptoms and my professional diagnosis.


There are doctors offices on every corner here and one down the street has been frequented by other foreigners here so I figured that was my best bet. Most of the foreigners I know usually take a Korean teacher with them to translate everything, but the thought of relaying everything to a teacher, hoping it all would get translated correctly, and then having everyone at work involved in my business, I figured I would give my independent side a shot. I have to say, Korean doctor's offices are the best. I walked in, gave the receptionist my Alien Registration Card, she filled out all my information, I gave her my highlighted Lonely Planet Guide and she guided me to the doctor, with no wait. The doctor spoke limited English and asked me if I had each symptom that I had highlighted, to which I said yes. Then he looked at my diagnosis and wrote me a prescription. No poking, no prodding; obviously I look like I've spent some time in medical school.


After that I went out to the front desk to pay, not sure what to expect. I do have healthcare here but my form was in my desk at work so I figured I would just get the receipt and file it through later. My bill for the doctors? 15 550 W ($15.50). Not that I should be too shocked, I did technically diagnos myself. Next stop was the pharmacy. The pharmacist spoke limited English but apologized to me that the prescription was "very expensive." I said okay, that was fine, I needed the prescription. The "very expensive" prescription was 17 000 W. And the prescriptions are different too because they give you like 8 different types of pills to take in one dose and then they package the dosage into individual baggies, so when it is time to take the medicine it is just like, "Oh where's my bag of pills?"

So despite visiting the doctor on my birthday I am kinda happy because I was able to do it all by myself without any problems, and I also think Canada should rethink their healthcare and do it Korean style. Though maybe I should wait to ensure that the pills they gave me work and aren't just a variety of M&Ms and jelly beans.