Thinking about doing a medical physical in Korea?
We were too - essentially our deductible is 12K (6K for each of us - they only have single person and family option, so even though it is just the 2 of us, we pay as much as a large family AND yes, this is regular work insurance…it used to be so much better…AND yes, I am so frustrated by the healthcare system in the U.S.)….moving on.
There seem to be a bunch of different options and we ended up booking throught creatrip with KMI. You can book directly with them, but creatrip had a promo with an extra scan.
There were 3 levels (which seem standard across multiple medical centers). What is included then drives up the price. I saw one with a full body PET scan - others had verious add ons.
We chose the upper level for KMI - if you are due for a colonoscopy (age 45, younger if you have a family history), then this is included. I just had mine last year, so opted for the stool test.
A couple things
You will be fasting (and no water) until after you have done your upper GI …also you can’t do upper GI scope and colonoscopy on the same day. There doesn’t seem to be any particular order to the tests with the exception of getting people through. So while I thought we’d be doing the more invasive test first thing…we didn’t . We did arrive right at 7am, but there were already a ton of people there. It is a very busy place for Koreans to do their exams too. My caffeine headache by the end was a bit harsh.
Make sure to badge in whenever you get to a station, you can then see on the screen where in line you are.
There was not a lot of explaining - I don’t think this was just due to me not speaking Korean - essentially, this is a get all the tests done type of day and you take that info a talk to your doctor you get the results. There IS essentially a station that you talk to a doctor, but I didn’t realize what it was until after it was done. I though he was screening me for the MRI.
Safety - make sure you read all the safety info, as they will likely not ask. MRI - make sure you don’t have any metal on you and if you are claustrophobic, I would NOT recommend it.
Most people spoke some english and those that check you in and the info desks can speak the most. There are info desks and kiosks where you scan your badge and it can show you your schedule and what you still have to do….I didn’t find this until the end and it would have been nice. Looks like this and it will even print out the info on a sheet in English for you.
We don’t have all our results yet, but I’m very happy to have done it - it was about $1300 for 25 different tests - mine included a brain MRI, brain MRA, chest CT, breast ultrasound, and some genetic tests for my ‘choices’ beyond the standard evals. While I could get some of the basic bloodwork done with my annual exam, you essentially move beyond that and start getting charged if you have any concerns….issues again with U.S. healthcare. Fingers crossed all is good for the both of us. And sorry for the lack of photos…can probably just google the place or look here: https://creatrip.com/en/spot/14721
