Sometime in January a nerve in my right arm went bad. This has happened before, so I had a good idea of what the problem was and what would be needed to fix it. It is nearly impossible to see the American doctors on the base here, so I went to an orthopedic surgeon at the hospital up in Seoul that we have been using for medical care here. Most doctors understand English here because medical literature is only written in English. Many doctors also go to the U.S., Australia, or England for medical school. However, their spoken English is not necessarily very good (which is fair enough and I definitely don't expect them to be fluent). This surgeon, however, neither spoke nor understood English very well, but refused to use a translator. After a very brief exam, he confirmed that I needed surgery, but said he only did one of the two possible procedures. He ordered two tests and a follow-up appointment in one month. Additionally, even though I was in a good deal of pain he offered me no medications or alternatives for pain relief. My sister (an orthopedic nurse practitioner with the same problem I have) didn't agree, and I didn't either. I've had both procedures and had better luck with the alternative. So I decided to try another hospital nearby that had also been recommended.
Things were completely different at the second hospital. I had an appointment with an orthopedic surgeon on Friday morning at 9:30am. By 12:30pm I had seen five doctors: two orthopedic surgeons, a rehabilitation doctor (something kind of like physical therapy), and two micro surgeons. It is a university hospital, so two of the doctors were residents who had their supervisors see me after they did their initial assessment. It seems the doctors do a lot of things that other kinds of people do in the States, like imaging and physical therapy, which explains the other doctors. In addition, all of the doctors spoke really good English. I could tell most of them weren't super comfortable speaking English, but they all did great and were very patient making sure we both understood each other. And I had a translator with me the whole time in case there were problems.
It was super impressive how efficient everything was. I only had one appointment scheduled, but in the space of three hours I had the five doctors visits, blood and urine tests, an EKG, three x-rays, an ultrasound on my arm, several orthopedic tests and three prescriptions filled and I paid the bill for the full treatment, including surgery and follow-up. Once they decide you need help you get it all at once! Part of the efficiency comes from how everything is set up. Doctors are almost always located in hospitals, rather than separate clinics. So when you need something like a blood test or x-ray, you are in the right spot to get one. And although you can make separate appointments for each individual doctor/procedure if you want to, they also structure things so you can move easily from one department to the next as needed.
To be fair, part of the efficiency may be because many people are staying away from hospitals because of the corona virus. I was always either the first or second person in line for each department. Under normal conditions it may have taken a couple more hours to get everything done. Even still, it is a very impressive organizational system! Also, (maybe because of the virus too) I can get the surgery done in three weeks. Since it has to happen, the sooner the better!
