Planning Clinic Consultations - How many to clinic to see in one day?

[kino]

How to plan consultations and how long you should stay in Korea

Many people go to Korea on a tight schedule in which they need to squeeze their consultations, decide and still spare enough time to have the surgery and complete their after care appointments. These are important factors and tips to maximize your time.

Guideline: Consult 3 Clinics/Day

3 appointments per day is a general rule of thumb and space out start times by at least 2 hours,  but spacing out by 3 hour buffer is recomended.

Clinics Hours

• Monday to Friday 9:30 AM to 6:30 PM (on average)
• Saturdays are 9:30 AM to 4:00 PM (on average)
• Sundays (closed)

Example Schedule

• Clinic A:  09:30  AM
• Clinic B:  12:30  AM
  • LUNCH
• Clinic C : 14:30  PM
  • AFTERNOON/ EVENING: Research, Analyze and Decide

Example Consultation Process

A typical consultation time looks like this for seeing a single surgeon. If you are seeing more than one surgeon at a clinic (Nose Surgeon + Eye Surgeon + Contouring Surgeon) add an extra 30 minutes per additional surgeon

• 20 minutes: Hotel to clinic commute time
• 15 minutes: Clinic check in / paperwork
• 05 minutes Photos & X-Rays
• 15 minutes coordinator consultation
• 15 minutes wait time to see surgeon
• 15 minutes surgeon consultation
• 20 minutes to coordinator pricing, scheduling and bargaining
• 15 minutes to commute to next appointment

Average Total Time: 2 Hours to complete the appointment and arrive at the next one (if you see more than one surgeon at a clinic add an additional 30 minutes per surgeon).

Know your treatment course/timeline:

Knowing how long it takes to finish your aftercare and follow ups is an important variable to plan your stay time. For example rhinoplasty requires 6 to 7 days.

Factor Surgery Slot Float Time

Surgery float is the time spent waiting for your surgery day to arrive once you made your decision. Always ask about the available dates for surgery at the end of your consultation. Sometimes your surgery can start the same day, next day, or you may have to wait as long as one week or more.

• Float times increase if it's a peak season (Winter/Spring) or it's a popular clinic or high demand surgeon

TIPS:

• Be on time. Don't be rude to other patients and staff by showing up late.
• Don't flake, bad Karma.
• Be nice, your prices can be a reflection of your attitude and difficulty or ease to manage. 
• Don't be a hero and stack too many appointments
• Don't have appointments the day you land in Korea
• Get familiar with the clinic location. Download Naver Maps App and virtually visit the clinic.
• Have the clinics address in Korean and take taxis that are facing the direction of your next appointment (if it's not walking distance)
• Keep max clinic number to 5.
  • After 5 you will have diminishing marginal returns.
  • Advice will get confusing and conflicting.
  • You will waste time and energy.

[Nikki]

Thank you for sharing Kino!!

[loosesocks]

Hi! Thank you for posting this. I just wonder if i had an appointment with any clinic and they asked my personal info, should i fill it truely? They also will be taking pics of me, how safe it is for me to do that? I am kinda scared that they will misuse my photos or spread it and/or any schemes.. People can do anything.

I plan for primary v-line and rhino and it would be my first time to Korea and do such a thing for surgery terrifies me.

[kino]

21 hours ago, loosesocks said:

if i had an appointment with any clinic and they asked my personal info, should i fill it truely? They also will be taking pics of me, how safe it is for me to do that? I am kinda scared that they will misuse my photos or spread it and/or any schemes.. People can do anything.

A hospital needs to ask for your information to create a medical record, so you should fill it out truthfully since they will also create a certificate of surgery, which is a legal document that proves you had surgery and may protect you if some issues arise in the future.

Also, some clinics provide tax refund documents, and knowing your official name and passport information are needed for that.

[loosesocks]

5 hours ago, kino said:

A hospital needs to ask for your information to create a medical record, so you should fill it out truthfully since they will also create a certificate of surgery, which is a legal document that proves you had surgery and may protect you if some issues arise in the future.

 

Thanks, Kino.

Can i have your opinion on Korea's plastic surgery confidentiality? Will they be courteous about keeping patient's info safe?

[kino]

On 12/7/2018 at 3:45 PM, loosesocks said:

Thanks, Kino.

Can i have your opinion on Korea's plastic surgery confidentiality? Will they be courteous about keeping patient's info safe?

Yes, for the most part they will maintain patient privacy. However, their data handling is not as strict as say the US or advanced European nations.