Should I contact clinics ahead of time before doing in person consultations?

[ell3n]

I know sometimes booking can be a few weeks and that is my concern. I don't want to go to Korea and not be able to book my surgery on the same trip. I also know some of these places are rather busy, especially this time of the year it seems. I would like to book and plan everything for late April or early May. Should I contact clinics while at home and will this guarantee that I can book my surgery for the same trip? I will only be able to be in Korea for 10 days. 

[Jabba]

It depends on how much time you're going to have. With only 10 days, it's better to reach out and probably decide on a clinic and book surgery.

The first thing is to find out what the treatment cycle is like for what you want to have. Example:

Rhinoplasty treatment cycle is about 8 days.

Prep and consult day: 1

Day 2 – Surgery  
Day 3 – Follow-up  
Day 4 – Recovery / rest  
Day 5 – Follow-up  
Day 6 – Recovery / rest  
Day 7 – Recovery / rest  
Day 8 – Stitch removal and post consult  

Now factor in travel days (arrival / departure), that's about 2 days.

That's a 10-day trip if you already have the surgery day locked in.

If you plan to consult with a few places first and then decide, you have to factor in consult days. Maybe you need 2 to 3 days to consult. Then factor in the delta or difference between your decision and the next available surgery date. Let's assume this can range between 3 to 7 days.

Now factor in travel days (arrival / departure), that's about 2 days.

So if you want to consult first and then decide, on the low end you need about 14 days, and on the high end about 19 days.

[cocopeach]

I don't know if 10 days would be enough. That is going to be a very tight trip as mentioned above. 

Everything I looked into said to plan for at least 2 weeks but upward of 3 or even 4 depending on the surgery! 

[mariemarie]

I would plan for a bit of extra time. You might end up changing your mind about a clinic after getting there. Allow yourself at least 5 days for this. So assuming that the surgery will take 8 days as mentioned above, you would want a minimum of 13 days.