Let's start from the beginning, namely South Korea. Korea is a paradise for the ones suffering from minor ailments. Koreans are in the habit of going to see a specialist no matter what kind of health problem they seek advise for. If your ear is aching, you go to see a doctor who specializes in ear related problems. You can make an appointment by walking into the health center, there are at least two of them in every block. The only problem in this approach is that you can't be sure if your doctor speaks English. But in general that's nothing to be afraid of. I didn't want to pay the international rate for the services provided by an international hospital and I never had any problems finding an English speaking doctor who had studies in the States.
So you don't necessarily need to book the appointment beforehand, just waltz into the health center when you need the services. I often did just that to get a prescription for whatever medicine it was that I needed. Usually I had to wait 15 minutes or so. How this is made possible- well I don't know but the system is working from the consumer's point of view. In my experience you'll lose 10,000-20,000 won in the process, roughly speaking 7-14 euros. You'll get your neatly packed medicine from any of the billion pharmacies. See example below. We couldn't read Korean fluently so we had no idea what kind of medicine they gave us. We used to joke that it was powdered dragon tail mixed with powdered clay pot but it sure as hell kicks in fast. Makes one wonder if there's something slightly opiatic involved.
In Finland I need to book an appointment beforehand, and I still need to wait 15 minutes, because at least 2 people are going to have parallel appointments with the same doctor (well at least you don't need to go into the examination room with that other 11:15 person.. yet), and the standard fee for seeing a GP is 20 something euros. To be fair to Finland, at least you get your prescription renewals for free (most of the time).
In Poland I had a private health insurance sponsored by the company I was working for. That means I got my sick leave certificate for free. The doctors spoke English and I didn't have any negative experiences with health care in Poland except maybe for the fact that once I had to sit 3 hours in a bus to get to the health center because an English speaking doctor wasn't available in the nearby health center. A big plus for Luxmed was their online booking system. By registering you were able to browse the available appointment times and even select your preferred doctor. Information technology makes being an introvert so much easier. Say goodbye forever to calling the customer service. "You are number 56 on the line".
Well then, hello Ireland. I went to get my sick leave certificate and asked if I can travel to Amsterdam when I've got a flu. The doctor said that there's no problem, just go for it but avoid taking too much drugs while you are not feeling well. What the heck? A doctor is supposed to advise against using drugs in any circumstances. Feeling a bit worried about the state of the Irish nation I left the place, being 30 euros poorer for this excellent piece of advise. Luckily I got to claim half of it back form the company sponsored health insurance.
And what about the price of consultation here in Australia where all the prices are inflated by default? Consulting the GP didn't cost me anything. Nada. Nix. I'm covered (limited coverage but still a coverage) by the national Medicare scheme so I didn't need to pay for the consultation. The bill goes to Australian government or whatever authority is providing the service. By all means, I'm not sad about that. It saves me the trouble of claiming the money back from my travel insurance. I guess I don't even try to claim back the 6 bucks I used for painkillers.
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