peanutbutterjel Posted December 11, 2015 Posted December 11, 2015 Oh.. interesting. I noticed that when I talk to the korean medical tourism board they are promoting some clinics which I think they shouldn't. Government bodies should not be bias, it is obvious that those clinics that they are trying to promote has paid them some advertising fee. I read one of your thread that the tourism board people can't even speak english and it's shocking that most of the government websites are in chinese only. This is what they replied You can visit The Plastic Surgery association website to check for hospitals with plastic surgery license. Unfortunately, the website only supports Korean and Chinese. Refer to the link below. http://www.prskorea.co.kr/main.asp All of the hospitals that are registered in our website have medical license. Here are a few hospitals that are members of The Korea society of plastic surgery in our website. 1. GLOVI PLASTIC SURGERY Facility Type Clinic Phone Number +82-70-4727-4640 Fax +82-2-515-1210 Homepage http://www.glovips.com/eng/index_eng.html Consultation [email protected] Address 2th Dongsim Bldg. 582-3, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea 2. EIGHT PLASTIC SURGERY Phone Number +82-2-515-2550 Fax +82-2-515-2531 Homepage http://eng.eightps.com/ Consultation http://eng.eightps.com/board.php?cate=0&dep01=0 Coordinator Ha Yeonbok Address 7F, Woon-Gang Bldg, Sinsa-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul 3. TL PLASTIC SURGERY Phone Number +82-70-4579-2820 Fax +82-2-549-3998 Homepage http://www.tlplasticsurgery.com/ Consultation http://www.tlplasticsurgery.com/?page_id=1942 Coordinator Melissa Moon Address 118-1, Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea 4. BK Plastic Surgery Phone Number +82-10-5021-8886 Fax +82-2-544-0420 Homepage http://english.bkhospital.com/ Consultation http://english.bkhospital.com/reserve/reserve01.asp Coordinator Claire Address BK Building 106 Dosan-daero Nonhyeon-dong, Gangnam-gu Seoul, Korea General statistic 13 Medical Experts ,3 Anesthesiologists ,2 Dentists among 180 BK staffs total 5. HERSHE Plastic Surgery Phone Number +82-2-511-7577 Fax +82-2-511-9970 Homepage http://eng.hershe9.com/?_ga=1.214386711.140979832.1449194566 Consultation [email protected] Coordinator Junho Jung Address 6~7F, Rubina B/D, 48 Cheongdam-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea 6. IDEA Plastic Surgical Clinic Phone Number +82-2-070-7863-6175 Fax +82-2-514-6715 Homepage http://en.idea-clinic.com/ Consultation http://en.idea-clinic.com/?mid=clinic_04_01 Address IDEA Plastic Surgical Clinic , 7-15, Nonhyeon 1-dong. Gangam-gu, Seoul, Korea General statistic Doctors 5, Other 25 7. UP2C PLASTIC SURGERY Phone Number +82-2-6020-0800 Fax +82-2-6020-0803 Homepage http://up2c.co.kr/ Consultation http://english.visitmedicalkorea.com/english/ms/support/onlineConsultation/BD_index.do?ms_id=MS14432183238845961&skinSeq=0&q_currPage=1&user_menu_cd=2121 Coordinator Allison Rhee Address 702-28, Yeoksam 1-dong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul, Korea, Urbanbench B/D 15F 8. BANOBAGI MEDICAL GROUP Phone Number +1899-0568 Fax +82-2-556-0568 Homepage http://www.engbanobagi.com/main/ Consultation http://www.engbanobagi.com/inquiry/advice_list.asp Coordinator HEBE Address 641-9 ,Yeoksamdong, Gangnam-gu, Seoul And etc.
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 The Korea Tourism Organization is not reliable for medical beauty tour advice in my opinion, I have had a lot of back and forth with them at conferences and workshops. They're following a script and are not clued-in and connected to the local beauty scene and are neither enthusiastic nor passionate about it. They're just bureaucratic office workers doing their job who are far removed from insider details. All those hospitals are in compliance, whether or not you trust them is your personal choice and subjective. If it's based on threads on this forum, then it's even more subjective. For every bad review on this forum, it can be trumped with a good review, so it becomes a zero sum. Also, clinics and doctors can't buy their way into plastic surgery boards (KAPS and KSAPS) with insurances, etc. It's about education, residency, training, peer review, being in good standing with the board, paying dues and attending meetings to maintain membership. Can you show an example of a "cosmetic doctor" on that list? I'm really curious about this either, I am not understanding something right, or something's lost in translation.
peanutbutterjel Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 one example is http://danaps.com/us/index.php
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Got it, thanks for the clarification. I get your logic, but I suggest not to draw inferences from your own medical systems and apply them to Korea's. it will only cause more confusion. I visited that clinic site. I'm still confused by what you mean by a 'cosmetic doctor' in the http://www.prskorea.co.kr database. If a doctor is NOT in that database and is performing plastic surgery or cosmetic surgical beauty procedures, then they are a "cosmetic doctor," and not allowed to call themselves a plastic surgeon. But if a doctor is in that database and there is no strike against him, then they are a plastic surgeon in good standing. Do you think they are not plastic surgeons, and are "cosmetic doctors" just because they focus on hair transplants? Dana Plastic Surgery Doctors
peanutbutterjel Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 yup.. the english site shows that they only do hair transplant. You mean hair transplant Drs can also be plastic surgeons? I remember seeing one site that it is a cosmetic dr. but I can't remember which link it is
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Surgical hair transplantation is a plastic surgery procedure. Assuming they're skilled in it, those doctors can probably perform rhinoplasty if they wanted to. They just chose to focus their practice on hair transplants. So they are not "hair transplant drs," they are plastic surgeons who perform hair transplants. If there are hair transplant doctors who are not plastic surgeons, then they will not be in that database, is that clear?
peanutbutterjel Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Thanks for the clarification. But out of 5 of the doctors. There is only 1 that is board certified, I read one of your post saying that is what they do also. By just registering a board certified Dr but the rest aren't.
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 Correct, the others are dermatologists, and hair is within the field of dermatology because it involves the dermis, so these are what you can call cosmetic doctors, and they might be in a respective board like KSAS (dermatologist and cosmetic medicine), but that's not necessarily a far fetched stretch for a dermatologist to become specialized in performing hair transplantation. But they cannot call themselves plastic surgeons (KAPS & KSAPS) and will not be in that database, only the head doctor will be. So if one of the doctors, except for the plastic surgeon, starts offering double eyelid surgery, that's a red flag.
wrenji Posted December 12, 2015 Posted December 12, 2015 I am getting confused. So what you guys are saying is that because I want a hair transplant, I must find plastic surgeons who do it and not dermatologists. Where I live I went for consultations for hair at dermatology clinics. Does this mean they are illegally doing hair transplants? What about in Korea? How will I know whether the hair transplant guy is a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon? Is there some logo or symbol they put up in the clinics?
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 13, 2015 Posted December 13, 2015 Basically it depends on your preference. Some people want a plastic surgeon who focusses on hair transplants because they like that they have more of a surgical foundation in their medical education and residency. Some people don't mind if it's a dermatologist, especially if they have proven themselves with a long track record of procedures and results. If they are plastic surgeons the clinic will say 성형의과 also you can ask the doctor if he is a board certified plastic surgeon. In Korea there are ENTs who perform rhinoplasty, one of them is Dr. Jung at Shimmian, so technically he is not a plastic surgeon, but he's done over 1,000 cases, so some people might feel it's OK that he's not board certified based on that.
wrenji Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Ok I understand now. What you are trying to say is it doesn't matter whether its a dermatologist or a plastic surgeon or an ENT. We should find doctors who have over 1000 cases. Is there a certification for completing 1000 cases I could ask the doctor to show me? Hopefully that doesn't sound too rude asking a doctor for that
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Sorry for the confusion, no what I'm saying is it depends on your preference and what your own standards are. Pick someone you feel confident in based on your own goals and standards of what you think is best for you. A dermatologist with less than 1000 cases might meet your criteria or a plastic surgeon with more than 1000+ cases might. It's really personal preference. You can use some of the credentials we have been discussing as guidelines to help you filter doctors, but that's your choice and preference. If you have trouble filtering though all the clinics and need help deciding then a facilitator or medical tour agency might be helpful. It's best to always start first in your home country and consult with a local doctor, this helps give you a benchmark and help educate you about treatment options. From there you'll know what you like and don't like and will have a better idea of the kind of doctor and clinic you're looking for.
kikiknows Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 Hi Mindy, I too would like the clinic info of where you have done you rihno. Do you mind sharing it? My kakao is kikiKnows
jeet-dhindsa Posted December 14, 2015 Posted December 14, 2015 These are the recommended prices for foreign patients from the Korean Ministry of Health, who helped calculate them by working with Korean consumer agencies and plastic surgery boards. And most legit services are in compliance with those, that's why the government made these ranges, so people don't over pay. The life of a consultant is really tough, I truly feel for those ladies, and plan to send them some Christmas and thank you cards this month. Anyway back to the topic, you also have to think of opportunity costs, a lot people zap the clinic's time. I read about people here consulting 10+ clinics, emailing, Kakaoing, and then visiting all 10 of them, making them jump through hoops, doing more back and forth, etc.... I know it's plastic surgery, so the name of the game is vanity, which by its nature is selfish, but zapping all that time and not booking costs money. So most foreigners are essentially paying to offset their fellow foreign peers costs as well. Korean patient behavior is virtually the opposite of this. My startup has time to figure out our business model since we're funded by a government grant at the moment. We're experimenting with annual subscription models and referral structures. But one thing for sure, is that there's no difference in pricing by going through us vs going direct, it can even be cheaper going through our platform depending upon the clinic. We're trying to be the Expedia of plastic surgery, not an offline agency. I don't like being taken advantage of as a foreigner in Korea, and that's one of the main reasons I built my startup. Everyone who goes through us gets a fair price and value, most of our primary rhino patients didn't pay past 5M so far. Originally, I tried to make it disruptive and close the gap between foreign and Korean prices. But that's not going to happen because Koreans pay dirt bottom prices, and clinics barely or don't make any money off of them. Essentially foreigner's are not paying 3 to 4 times the 'normal price,' they're paying 3 to 4 times of rock bottom prices, and converting it into a semi 'normal,' but padded price because they get 3 to 4 times the service than a Korean. If I go to Thailand and get a fresh cut coconut drink with straw for $3 and a local scoffs and says they got their's for $1. I'm not going to feel over charged because at the end of the day what I paid still seems pretty normal to me. It's when I start comparing myself to a Thai local, when I'm clearly not, especially economically that I might overthink my purchase. When I saw my ex (native Korean) get PS it was amazing. She researched for about 3 hours. Walked in, 5 min consult, paid, did the procedure, went home, stitched out a few days later and that was that. The clinic did virtually no hand holding and had limited bed side manner. She felt that she didn't get the results she expected, so she just shrugged, said whatever and moved on. If foreigners, especially emotionally charged ones, can behave like Korean consumers and patients, then they deserve the Korean prices without a doubt.
mindy3132 Posted December 17, 2015 Posted December 17, 2015 Interesting, the Korean locals I met with normally consults with multiple clinics prior to their surgery. They live where there are hundreds of clinics, have no real time limit on when they need to leave the country and can spend months prior to their surgery talking to their friends and scoping out places. Yes they do not have the full VIP treatment of car pickups to/from the clinic and don't need translators. But they certainly need the post op care since they just had surgery as well. That is not considered hand holding... it's considered ethical medical practice. What your ex girlfriend did with poor research and subsequent poor results, perhaps you shouldn't use it as an example of what Korean plastic surgery should be like for locals. I consult with my nail technician for more than 5 minutes on how I should do my nails this week, to consult for 5 minutes for surgery... that's just poor judgement at best.
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